PRINCE Andrew's car-crash BBC interview is set to become a film, with one of Britain's biggest stars reportedly in the running to play the disgraced royal.
Few could forget Emily Maitlis' forensic questioning of the Queen's third son in 2019 about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which ultimately led to the Duke being demoted down the royal ranks.
And now, the historic interview will be recreated for the big screen, with Hugh Grant shortlisted for the role of Andrew, according to reports.
Titled Scoop, the script is written by Scottish writer Peter Moffat, who is best known for his work on Your Honor, and will follow how the BBC Newsnight team secured the interview and explore why the prince agreed to do it.
It is based on former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister’s book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, which is published on July 14 2022.
Speaking to Deadline, Moffat said the film will tell the story of how the BBC team "made the interview happen under real stress and pressure because once it was agreed it happened in secret."
He added: "Almost nobody inside the BBC could know about it for fear it would leak".
"What Andrew was going to say was going to be extremely relevant in court later… a real responsibility, particularly to Epstein’s women victims. It was our one shot at looking at what Andrew had to say about Epstein. The seriousness with which Emily, Esme and Sam were taking it, of course, was right."
In the immediate aftermath of the interview, which Andrew famously thought had gone well, widespread backlash led to the Royal family confirming Andrew would step back from royal duties.
Then, in January 2022, a sexual assault case was launched against the prince by alleged victim Virginia Giuffre, with whom he denied being pictured in London on the basis that he was wearing his "travelling clothes" rather than his London attire of suit and tie, suggesting instead that the picture may be fake.
The case, which was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, triggered the Royal family to strip the Duke of his HRH title and he was dropped as patron by numerous organisations.
The Queen's so-called favourite child has since been absent from a number of high profile events, including the platinum jubilee celebrations after "contracting Covid".
Shooting for the film is scheduled to begin in November, with the cast yet to be announced.
