Netflix to tackle the Panama Papers in new movie

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Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

You don’t need an offshore bank account to enter the rich and secretive world of the Panama Papers — just a Netflix subscription.

Netflix has announced that it’s teaming up with John Wells Production — the company behind movies like Burnt, August: Osage County, and Love and Mercy — for a feature film about the Panama Papers.

Earlier this year, two German journalists named Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer obtained an unprecedented number of documents from an anonymous John Doe, documents that suggest dozens of global politicians have been hiding billions in offshore bank accounts and tax havens. More than 11 million records were leaked, originating with Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Netflix has since acquired the rights to Obermayer and Obermaier’s book Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the World’s Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money and will adapt the story for the screen, with officials from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (which led more than 400 journalists worldwide in investigating the papers) collaborating on the film.

Earlier this month, Steven Soderbergh signed on to produce and possibly direct a separate movie about the Panama Papers, teaming with Grey Matter Productions and Anonymous Content.

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