Oscar-winning screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen will write the script for Internet thriller Dark Web. The Coen brothers were brought in to revise the screenplay, originally written by best-selling author Dennis Lehane, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The project is based on a Wired magazine article by Joshua Bearman, which traces the true story of Ross William Ulbricht, a 29-year-old man who built an online market for illegal goods (called ‘The Silk Road’), before allegedly morphing into a murderous kingpin.
Ulbricht, who US authorities identified as the ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, is currently serving a life sentence without parole for selling narcotics and money laundering. No director has been attached to Dark Web as yet.
The Coen brothers last wrote and directed the period Hollywood satire Hail, Ceasar!. They have won Oscars for the screenplay of No Country for Old Men and Fargo.
However, this is not the first time that Ulbricht’s case has been chronicled in cinema. Last year, a documentary titled Deep Web was made on Ulbricht’s controversial case. The documentary featured interviews with Wired writer Andy Greenberg, and developer Amir Taaki. The movie had considerable footage from Ulbricht’s trial, and was narrated by actor Keanu Reeves, known for his support for digital currency bitcoin.
The Coen brothers, who often write scripts for projects they don’t direct, wrote the screenplay for Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken as well as Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, for which they won an Oscar nomination.
They have also collaborated with director George Clooney on the script for the crime mystery Suburbicon, set in the 1950s. The film is currently in production.
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