The first official pictures from an upcoming Netflix film of Newsnight's infamous interview with Prince Andrew have been released.
ADVERTISEMENTScoop, based on former Newsnight editor Sam McAlister's book "Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interview", is due to drop on Netflix in the spring.
Now, Netflix has released the first photos from what promises to be one of the platform’s most talked about films.
The upcoming film will delve into the infamous 2019 BBC interview between journalist Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew, about the disgraced royal’s ties with Jeffrey Epstein – a “car crash” interview which brought about the downfall of the prince.
Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell will play Maitlis and Prince Andrew respectively.
During the infamous head-to-head, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s second son talked candidly about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his ties with Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite now serving time in prison for helping Epstein abuse girls.
Prince Andrew used the interview to deny having sex with then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, saying he was in Pizza Express in Woking on the day the encounter was meant to have taken place and that her version of events was erroneous, as the prince claimed he was physically unable to sweat.
The conversation was an embarrassment for the British monarchy, despite Prince Andrew initially believing that it had gone well.
He subsequently reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, formally ending a civil case brought against him in the US. The ‘undisclosed sum’ was reported to have reached £12million.
Scoop is being billed as a story about “power, privilege, and differing perspectives and how we judge what’s true,” and will provide a dramatic retelling how reporters secured the interview.
The film synopsis says it shows "the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade".
Scoop is written by Peter Moffat (Silk, Your Honor), directed by The Crown veteran Philip Martin, and co-stars Billie Piper as TV producer Sam McAlister, Keeley Hawes as Prince Andrew's former private secretary Amanda Thirsk, and Romola Garai as Esme Wren, who led Newsnight at the time of the interview.
It is the first of two films about the 2019 interview.
The second will land on Amazon Prime Video, who is producing a three-part series based on the memoirs of Maitlis. Michael Sheen is reported to be playing Prince Andrew and Ruth Wilson will play Maitlis.
Scoop is out on Netflix later this year.
