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HBO ‘Lawyering Up’ on Expectation That New Doc Will Stir Up Controversy

Nov 25, 2014  •  Post A Comment

In a new documentary, HBO will take on a subject that has been controversial in Hollywood. The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed reports that the pay-cable network is turning Lawrence Wright’s book “Going Clear,” about the Church of Scientology, into a documentary.

The film comes from Oscar winner Alex Gibney and was quietly commissioned in early 2013, when the book was published. HBO is aiming for a 2015 debut, THR said, and could submit the film to Sundance if it’s ready in time.

Sheila Nevins, HBO Documentary Films president, told THR that the network has “probably 160 lawyers” looking at the film, no doubt in anticipation of legal pushback from the church, which did not look kindly on the book, which carries the subtitle “Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief.”

going clear-book cover

One Comment

  1. HBO is fully aware of the legal antics employed by this organization. To not ‘lawyer up’ would have been a huge mistake. The irony is that the more Scientology fights this in court, the more HBO can spin it as evidence that Wright’s insights are on the money and the film is a must-see.

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