Los Angeles, Feb 20 (IANS): The release date of actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's biographical political thriller “Snowden” has been pushed back from May 13 to September 16, 2016.

“Snowden” stars Gordon-Levitt as NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Shailene Woodley plays his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills. Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson and Timothy Olyphant are among other cast members, reports variety.com.

The film had originally been set to open on Christmas last year, but the producers decided last October to move it back to May.

Directed by Oliver Stone, “Snowden” is based on Luke Harding’s book “The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man” and “Time of the Octopus”, written by Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena.

Snowden was charged in 2013 by the US Department of Justice with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property, and his passport was revoked a week later by the US Department of State. He was granted temporary asylum by Russia in 2014.