Entertainment

Prince Andrew's infamous BBC interview to be made into film

THE STORY of Prince Andrew's now-infamous BBC interview in which he discussed his friendship with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein is to be made into a film.

Scoop is set to be written by Peter Moffat, who has found success coming off of last year's Bryan Cranston-starring Your Honor, and British acting royalty Hugh Grant is just one of the many names on the wish list to portray the Prince, Deadline reports.

In the interview with host Emily Maitlis, the prince also discussed his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who has since has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for helping Epstein abuse young girls.

The Duke of York also denied having sex with a then 17-year-old girl - Virginia Giuffre - saying he was in Pizza Express in Woking on the day the encounter was meant to have taken place.

Following on from the interview, which took place in 2019, the Duke of York was stripped of his royal duties by his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

He was also absent during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations last month.

Lighthouse Film & Television, a production company launched two years ago by Hilary Salmon, Radford Neville and Nick Betts, is set to produce.

Moffat and Salmon both confirmed the news yesterday, telling Deadline that production will be set up quickly.

They intend for shooting to begin in November. A director has not been assigned, nor has casting begun, though pitches have been made to selected agents. ”The reaction is always the same, ‘Oh, wow,’” Salmon said.

Moffat explained that the film is about how BBC's Newsnight team got the interview set up, the actual filming of it and why Andrew agreed to take part.

When pushed on casting, Salmon said “we have, of course, thoughts” but stressed “no one is attached,” and she wouldn’t comment on reports that Grant is in the mix.

However, on Twitter Hugh Grant made an apparent reference to the casting news, saying he has "never heard of it."