The life story of disgraced British former surgeon and vaccine campaigner Andrew Wakefield is to be told on the big screen, reports Variety.
In a development likely to reignite concerns that the campaigner’s controversial views on the link between autism and childhood vaccination are being given fresh credibility, the powerful Hollywood screenwriter Terry Rossio, best known for the Pirates of the Caribbean films, has optioned the rights to Wakefield’s 2010 book Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines – The Truth Behind a Tragedy, along with the former doctor’s life rights.
Rossio, the second most successful screenwriter of all time at the North American box office and an Oscar nominee, will work with screenwriter and practicing otolaryngologist Dr Jocelyn Stamat on the project.
“Dr Wakefield is clearly a polarising figure, reviled by the general public yet also revered by many,” said Rossio in a statement. “The details and drama surrounding his life are even more remarkable than generally known.”
Added Stamat: “We look forward to bringing Andrew Wakefield’s personal story to the screen and exploring a topic of vast importance to public health and the health of the nation’s children.”
It was not immediately clear from the Variety report whether Rossio and his team plan a documentary about Wakefield’s life, or a biopic-style feature film.
Wakefield gained notoriety in Britain in 1998 with a research paper, later discredited, which argued the joint measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was a potential cause of autism and bowel disorders. Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register in 2010, when a statutory tribunal held by the General Medical Council found him guilty of “dishonesty” and said he had subjected children to invasive medical procedures they did not need.
Wakefield re-emerged into the public spotlight last month, when his documentary Vaxxed: from Cover-Up to Catastrophe was initially given a premiere at the Tribeca film festival by founder Robert De Niro. The Oscar-winning actor, who is the father of an autistic child, later pulled the film from the festival’s screening programme following an outcry from doctors and researchers.
Vaxxed had its first US screening at New York City’s Angelika Film Center earlier this month.
