Joseph Gordon-Levitt to play Edward Snowden

Los Angeles - Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to play Edward Snowden in The Snowden Files.

The 33-year-old actor is believed to be in negotiations to play the role of the asylum-seeking CIA leaker, who fled to Russia after revealing disturbing information about the NSA's global surveillance tactics to the press, in Oliver Stone's biopic, according to Deadline.

Stone is writing and directing the project, while Eric Kopeloff and Moritz Borman are set to produce.

The movie will be based on Time of the Octopus, which was written by Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, but Stone has also bought the screen rights to The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding as well.

The biopic could go into production in Munich, at the earliest, by the end of this year or the beginning of 2015 if the deal with Gordon-Levitt is secured.

The hunky star, who is known for action and comedy movies, has previously starred in Inception, 500 Days of Summer, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Dark Knight Rises.

He was last seen in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and is currently working on an untitled Christmas movie with Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie.