Oliver Stone says studios’ boards led to ‘Snowden’ rejection

Director Oliver Stone says every major movie studio turned down his narrative film about Edward Snowden because of censorship from their corporate leaders.

Stone, who has chronicled many American conspiracies, said Thursday at Comic-Con that he doesn't believe an entity like the National Security Agency is putting pressure on the studios, but the corporate boards who control them.

He got financing from France and Germany for the film, which comes out Sept. 16 and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Snowden. The former NSA contractor leaked information about the government's surveillance programs.

Gordon-Levitt tried to get to know Snowden before portraying him. He says he was surprised at Snowden's optimism about technology's ability to positively change the future.

"Snowden" is set to screen for select audiences Thursday at the annual convention.

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