Arabic language media have fallen for a satirical article that claims that Steven Spielberg will produce a 3D Yasser Arafat biopic starring George Clooney.
Here’s where they got it from, a spoof website called the Pan-Arabia Enquirer:
He already has the beard! George Clooney has been signed up to play the lead in an upcoming biopic of Yasser Arafat, according to an article in The Hollywood Reporter.
Quoting insiders close to the project in Los Angeles, the publication claims that actor has agreed a deal that will see him play the title role in ‘Yasser’, a new multi-million dollar 3D feature being developed as a collaboration between Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios and the Doha Film Institute.
Anne Hathaway is widely expected to join the project as Arafat’s wife, Suha
Anne Hathaway is tipped to play Arafat’s wife Suha, while Chris Hemsworth is already on board as a younger Yasser Arafat. On the other side, Kevin Spacey is the bookie’s favourite to take the role of Yitzhak Rabin while Alan Rickman is reportedly in final contract negotiations stages that should see him become Arafat’s devious latter-day nemesis Benjamin Netanyahu.Sources closes to Clooney say the A-lister is “over the moon” to be playing Arafat, and has “long dreamed of donning the iconic headdress and army fatigues”. No director has yet been lined up, but many in the industry expect the task to be handed to Peter Jackson, who has previously suggested any film about Arafat should be spread over three separate films.
“Biopics are huge business these days, with movies about the lives of Margaret Thatcher, Marilyn Monroe and Danny Devito having earned millions at the box office,” claimed film expert Jethro Goldstein, speaking to The Pan-Arabia Enquirer. “Yasser Arafat is a character with all the action, drama and emotion to take biopics into the lucrative 3D market, and Clooney – who looks the part as well as being politically minded – is the perfect choice as the lead.”-EoZ
