Home Entertainment Benedict Cumberbatch is headed to THE FIFTH ESTATE in the Julian Assange biopic

Benedict Cumberbatch is headed to THE FIFTH ESTATE in the Julian Assange biopic

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Sherlock is one of our favourite TV series around these parts  and the fact that we might only get new episodes in 2015 has left us howling like the hound of the Baskervilles. But what are you going to do when star Benedict Cumberbatch just keeps on landing big movie gigs? He’s the new Star Trek baddie, he’s the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit and he’ll also be bringing to life closet peroxide enthusiast and whistleblower extraordinaire, Julian Assange of WikiLeaks fame.

And since we’re awfully childish and the word “WikiLeaks” makes us snigger, we’re happy to report that the film finally has a proper title, The Fifth Estate, as well as the first look at Cumberbatch in the role.

Cumberbatch can be seen above looking all WikiLeak-y next to Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) who will be playing Daniel Domscheit-Berg.”an early supporter and eventual colleague of Julian Assange” in the film which “traces the heady, early days of WikiLeaks, culminating in the release of a series of controversial and history changing information leaks. The website’s overnight success brought instant fame to its principal architects and transformed the flow of information to news media and the world at large.”

Bill Condon (Kinsey, Dreamgirls and unfortunately for him, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) will be at the helm, and according to the press release that made all of this official, the film has been set for a November 15, 2013 release date.

If you like scrolling and lots of words, you can check out the press release in full below:

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 22, 2013) – Principal photography has begun on the WikiLeaks drama “The Fifth Estate,” it was announced today by DreamWorks Studios. The film about the controversial website stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange and Daniel Brühl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg, as well as Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Dan Stevens, Alicia Vikander and Carice van Houten.

“The Fifth Estate” will open in U.S. theaters on November 15, 2013 and be distributed domestically by Disney’s Touchstone label. Distribution internationally will be split among Disney, DreamWorks partner Reliance, and deals made through the studio’s partnership with Mister Smith Entertainment.

Following Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Brühl), an early supporter and eventual colleague of Julian Assange (Cumberbatch), “The Fifth Estate” traces the heady, early days of WikiLeaks, culminating in the release of a series of controversial and history changing information leaks. The website’s overnight success brought instant fame to its principal architects and transformed the flow of information to news media and the world at large.

Joining DreamWorks as a co-financier on “The Fifth Estate” is Participant Media. This will be the fifth collaboration between the two companies who previously partnered on Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” the 2011 Academy Award-winning smash “The Help,” “The Kite Runner” and “The Soloist.” With a focus on real issues that shape our lives, Participant creates social action and advocacy programs to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Some of their other films include “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Food, Inc.,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Waiting for ‘’Superman,’” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and the current Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, “No.”

Bill Condon (“Kinsey,” “Dreamgirls,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”) will direct “The Fifth Estate” from a screenplay by Josh Singer (TV’s “Fringe,” “The West Wing”), based on “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding. The producers are Steve Golin and Michael Sugar, with Participant’s Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King joining Richard Sharkey as executive producers. “The Fifth Estate” is a coproduction between Afterworks and FBO, with Hilde De Laere co-producing for FBO. The film is supported by the Belgian Tax Shelter for Audiovisual Production.

Said director Bill Condon, “It may be decades before we understand the full impact of WikiLeaks and how it’s revolutionized the spread of information. So this film won’t claim any long view authority on its subject, or attempt any final judgment. We want to explore the complexities and challenges of transparency in the information age and, we hope, enliven and enrich the conversations WikiLeaks has already provoked.”

Last Updated: January 24, 2013

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