Oliver Taking On Osama?

It could happen.

The filmmaker who gave the world paranoid conspiracies (JFK), a treatise on greed (Wall Street) and a vision of the madness of war (Platoon) now says he's interested in tackling terrorism and is troubled by Hollywood's new hands-off approach to the subject.

On Saturday, Stone sat in on an HBO Films-sponsored panel titled "Making Movies that Matter: The Role of Film in the National Debate" as part of the 39th New York Film Festival, and he talked about his reaction as a filmmaker to September 11's devastating terrorist attacks.

"Reality has always been an issue for me pre-September 11th," Stone said. "I got a phone call on September 12 from a major news magazine who asked me, 'What would you like to do?'

"[I told them] I'd like to do a bullet of a movie on terrorism. If it were done realistically, it could be a fascinating procedure."

Stone also says Hollywood shouldn't shy away from producing fiction about terror events.

"I don't buy into this concept of staying away [from the attacks] because they happened. Let's make a movie on terrorism and if it's well done, the faces are real, and we portray the Arab side, then people will come. I don't buy that everybody will only go to see Zoolander."

(Stone has a point. Just see the millions of people who tuned in to see this week's Very Special Episode of episode of The West Wing, which tackled the subject head on).

Saturday's seminar was organized by HBO for the New York Film Festival, which has been looking to revive its long-standing tradition of hosting panels bringing together film industry bigwigs in a public forum to rap about the state of movies, culture and current events.

Joining Stone on the panel were New Line Cinema boss Robert Shaye, former head of Universal Studios Tom Pollock, indie producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don't Cry), outspoken Vanity Fair and Nation columnist Christopher Hitchens, filmmaker Raoul Peck (Lumumba) and noted author and cultural critic Bell Hooks. Newsweek movie critic David Ansen moderated.

The panel's attention inevitably turned toward how Hollywood, the media and moviegoers were dealing with the catastrophe.

But the group also hotly debated such topics as censorship in the press, the realities of making movies in an industry dominated by the Almighty dollar, the dangers of huge media conglomerates, and yes, even the nature of capitalism and the New World Order.

Some snippets:

Stone on media consolidation: "The six companies [Viacom, News Corp., Disney, Bertlesmann, Sony, and Time Warner-AOL] are gonna decide what people see and they own all these small companies and there's...a control of ideas. We are in a dilemma. We have too much order. The revolt on September 11 was a f--- you [to the New World Order]."

"All films, all video games...are political," said Peck, a Caribbean filmmaker who is also Haiti's former minister of culture. "They carry messages all over the world...I grew up watching American movies in which Indians were killed by the hundreds...but it was a major question, how come the people that looked like me are dying?"

"As hard as it was before to get studios who aren't interested in sending messages [to make political films], it's going to be 10 times harder now. It's going to be harder and harder to get distribution for that kind of movie," said Pollock, who during his tenure at Universal oversaw Schindler's List and is now an independent producer.

"I got a letter the other day which said the world needs Hobbits and that may be true," said Shaye, whose company is releasing the upcoming Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"I have made movies that matter like Boys Don't Cry?but who's going to go see it, and how much does it cost? I have to take that into account," said Vachon.

"There's always politics in movies," said Hooks. "Something could be political and be extraordinarily entertaining."

The New York Film Festival commenced September 28 and runs through October 14.