Oscar-winner Oliver Stone denies plans to make film about Venezuelan president

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone and British producer John Daly are denying claims by President Hugo Chavez that they planned to make a film about a 2002 coup that briefly unseated the Venezuelan leader.

Photo: Oscar-winner Oliver Stone denies plans to make film about Venezuelan president

Oscar-winner Oliver Stone denies plans to make film about Venezuelan president

Chavez said during a nationally televised speech Sunday that Stone and Daly intended to announce their plans for the film at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

"Rumors that I am directing a film about the 2002 coup in Venezuela are untrue and unfounded," Oliver Stone said in a statement e-mailed by his publicist to The Associated Press Tuesday.

Chavez had said that the two called Venezuela Sunday morning to discuss their plans and were given permission to make the announcement. He said he'd met with Daly several months ago in Caracas to discuss the idea.

But Daly said in the statement that there had been "no discussions" for such a film with either Chavez or Stone.

Chavez was forced from power by dissident military officers for two days in April 2002. He was soon restored to power by loyalists in the military amid massive street protests.

Chavez has accused the U.S. government of directing the coup, seizing on U.S. documents indicating the CIA knew military officers were plotting against him. U.S. officials have strongly denied involvement.

Stone has won Academy Awards for films, including "Talk Radio," and directed a 2003 documentary, "Comandante," on a close Chavez ally, Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Daly has helped produce Oscar-winning films like "The Last Emperor," reports AP.

O.Ch.