Oliver Stone to direct film about NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden

He has tackled the Kennedy assassination and the Watergate break-in, the Vietnam conflict and the Bush administration's "war on terror".

Now Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone is set to whip up fresh controversy with his adaptation of The Snowden Files, an account of the National Security Agency scandal written by Luke Harding, a journalist with The Guardian.

Stone's thriller will focus on the experiences of the American whistle-blower Edward Snowden, a contractor at the NSA who leaked thousands of classified documents to former Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald in June last year. The film will be produced by Stone's regular business partner Moritz Borman, with Harding and other Guardian journalists serving as production and story consultants.

"This is one of the greatest stories of our time," Stone, 67, said in a statement. "A real challenge. I'm glad to have The Guardian working with us."

Stone's previous films include Platoon, JFK, Nixon and W.

Snowden's revelations lifted the lid on a culture of mass government surveillance, sparked a global furore and forced the Obama administration onto the back foot.