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Avengers: Endgame writers working on Cambridge Analytica whistleblower movie

The unexpected project will be inspired by the story of Canadian data consultant Christopher Wylie

Adam White
Thursday 18 July 2019 03:00 EDT
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The story of a data mining enterprise that has been described as being instrumental in both the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump will be turned into a movie, with the writers of Avengers: Endgame currently working on the script.

Deadline has reported that director David Gordon Green, who last directed the 2018 Halloween reboot, has teamed with Avengers: Endgame scriptwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to dramatise the story of data consultant turned whistleblower Christopher Wylie.

Founded by Alexander Nix in 2013, the now defunct Cambridge Analytica had been described by Wylie as a “full-service propaganda machine”, which claimed to be able to analyse enormous amounts of consumer data to identify people who can be easily targeted with marketing material.

Wylie claimed that the firm was illegally mining data from Facebook users to predict and influence elections and global affairs. Last week the US Federal Trade Commission approved a roughly $5bn (£4bn) settlement with Facebook over its investigation into the social media company’s handling of user data.

The currently-untitled film, which will also be produced by Avengers filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, is due to begin filming in 2020 and will partially be inspired by a Guardian article exposing the firm that was written by journalist Carole Cadwalldr.

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