Prince Andrew’s trainwreck BBC Newsnight interview to get biopic treatment

The story behind Prince Andrew’s disastrous 2019 BBC interview is set to become a feature film.

The infamous Newsnight interview, in which the Duke of York talks about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, made headlines around the world and now it’s currently in the works to become a movie.

Deadline reported that British actor Hugh Grant is one of the “unconfirmed names on wish list to portray the disgraced royal”, Grant’s representatives quickly squashed the statement saying “Hugh has never heard of this project.”

No I’m not. Never heard of it. https://t.co/G8opDMFoWB

— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) July 14, 2022

The project, titled Scoop, will dramatise how the network managed to gain rare access to interview and film the disgraced royal.

The film will also be based on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister.

The behind-the-scenes negotiation will make a “very thrilling drama”, its screenwriter Peter Moffat tells Deadline.

“How was it that he decided it was a good idea to do a great big long interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC?” said Moffat, who had previously worked on BBC drama Criminal Justice and its US remake The Night Of. “Quite often covers up for the bad stuff, that’s what I think,” he added.

In the interview, the Duke also gives insight into his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who has since been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for carrying out the years-long grooming schemes and for aiding Epstein’s abuse of underage girls.

Andrew has continuously denied allegations of having sex with then 17-year-old girl Virginia Giuffre, saying he was in a Pizza Express in Woking on the day when the alleged encounter was meant to have taken place.

“I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady.”

The Duke of York has spoken for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein and the allegations against him https://t.co/YfWs2EAi6v

FULL INTERVIEW: Saturday 21:00 @BBCTwo with @maitlis#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/zy7jvnRPJp

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 15, 2019

The interview was widely regarded as a “car crash” with the episode doing more harm to the Prince’s reputation.

Earlier this year in February, the Prince’s military titles and royal patronages were stripped, leaving him unable to use the title His Royal Highness in any official capacity.

The following month, Andrew paid off the financial settlement to Giuffre and formally ended his sexual assault civil case in the US.

Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime and has continued to deny any wrongdoing.