Without a hint of irony, THR drops this on us:
The book is set in a dystopian society in a perpetual state of war, which in turn leads to a state of paranoia. Propaganda, surveillance, mind control and cult of personality — concepts seen in totalitarian and fascist states such as Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union — were taken to new levels in the book written in 1948 and published in 1949.
The story centers on Winston Smith, who works for a government branch called the Ministry of Truth, where he alters facts and histories but secretly harbors desires of rebellion (as well as desires of a forbidden love affair). The ideas in the novel became hugely influential in the worlds of politics and art, with the author’s name eventually becoming an adjective (Orwellian). Shepard Fairey, the street artist perhaps best known for creating the Barack Obama “Hope” poster, was instrumental in bringing the project to Imagine and LBI and might take some sort of producer role once the deals shake out.
Imagine and Fairey were pursuing Orwell’s estate for the rights to 1984 and discovered that Yorn was simultaneously seeking the rights. The companies then decided to pair up.
The producers are reaching out to writers to find a take on the material before setting it up at a studio.
THR also fails to mention this little nugget about Fairey and “Hope”:
The street artist Shepard Fairey, whose “Hope” campaign poster of Barack Obama became an enduring symbol of his last presidential campaign, pleaded guilty Friday to a charge stemming from his misconduct in trying to bolster claims in a lawsuit over which photograph had been used as a basis for the poster.
Mr. Fairey, 42, sued The Associated Press in 2009 after it contended he had infringed on the copyright of one of its photographs in creating the poster. Mr. Fairey had claimed in his suit that he had used a different photograph of Mr. Obama, but later admitted that he had been mistaken and had tried to conceal his mistake, by destroying documents and fabricating others.
“I was ashamed that I had done these things, and I knew I should have corrected my actions,” he said on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The legal dispute between Mr. Fairey and The A.P. has been settled.
Plagiarism, lying, creating really huge posters that mesmerized millions of morons to worship a man who worships The State … whatever.
The important thing is that Fairey loves Obama and will surely turn “1984” into a pro-fascist flick where Fox News is Big Brother and The State is the hero. What you might call a perfect Hollywood producer.
An Owellian use of Orwell. Now my brain hurts.
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