Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

New 'Snowden' clip pits Joseph Gordon-Levitt against an aptitude test

With Oliver Stone’s biopic of Edward Snowden hitting theaters next month, Open Road Films has released a new clip from the film about the famous — or infamous, depending on your perspective — former national security contractor who leaked classified information about the United States government’s surveillance of citizens’ private information.

In the clip, Snowden (as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) showcases his prolific programming skills during an aptitude test that has him create, destroy, and then restore a covert communications system in his hometown — a feat he accomplishes in just 38 minutes.

Recommended Videos

Written and directed by three-time Academy Award winner (and 11-time nominee) Stone, Snowden is based on Russian attorney Anatoly Kucherena’s novel Time of the Octopus, which chronicles his time working with Snowden in Russia (where he still serves as his legal representation). The film also drew inspiration from Luke Harding’s novel The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man.

In the film, Looper actor Gordon-Levitt portrays Snowden throughout his life and career leading up to and following his decision to leak classified information about the American government’s surveillance of its citizens. It also covers his time spent in Russia while attempting to receive asylum and avoid extradition to the U.S.

Along with Gordon-Levitt in the title role, the film also features Divergent franchise star Shailene Woodley as Snowden’s girlfriend, who currently lives with him in Russia, as well as Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek Into Darkness), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino), and Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas).

Snowden is expected to have a wide release in theaters beginning September 16.

Rick Marshall
Former Contributing Editor, Entertainment
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Mia Goth cast opposite Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter
Mia Goth sits behind a microphone with the Star Wars logo on the right.

Welcome to the Star Wars universe, Mia Goth.

Per The InSneider newsletter, Goth has been cast in Star Wars: Starfighter. Goth joins Ryan Gosling in the upcoming space opera from director Shawn Levy.

Read more
Etoile canceled after one season at Amazon, despite two-season order
Luke Kirby resting his head on his arms, which are resting on a table, in a scene from Etoile.

Etoile has danced its last dance. The Amazon Prime Video series from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has been canceled after one season, in spite of the fact that it was initially given a two-season order by Amazon back in 2023, per Variety.

The news of the show's cancellation comes roughly six weeks after the series first premiered on Amazon in mid-April and garnered generally positive reviews. The show follows two struggling dance companies in New York and Paris who decide to switch their principal dancers in the hopes of saving their companies.

Read more
Martin Scorsese says he can no longer watch any movies in theaters
Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino star in The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Few directors have spent more time advocating for movies and movie theaters over the course of their careers than Martin Scorsese. In a recent interview with film critic Peter Travers, Scorsese said that he can no longer stand watching movies in theaters, and that includes his own films.

“I asked the maestro why he doesn’t see movies in theatres any more and he went all raging bull about audiences who babble on phones during the movie, leave to order snacks and vats of soda, and keep up a noise level loud enough to drown out the actors," Travers said, per The Guardian.

Read more