The first trailer for The Fifth Estate , about the Wikileaks founder starring Benedict Cumberbatch has been released.
The Fifth Estate is about the news leaking website Wikileaks and the struggles founder Julian Assage goes through to reveal highly classified government secrets. The chase that ensues after the leaks, is still ongoing as Assange is living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Assange faces sexual assault charges in Sweeden and fears that if he returns to face them, he will be extradited to the US, where he is wanted to face espionage charges.
The film’s topic has become more relevant in the past month with the disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden who is on the run and attempting to gain asylum to escape similar charges.
At the time the information was divulged by Wikileaks, it was thought to be the worst infiltration into the country’s security apparatus in the history of the United States, which pales in comparison to the data revealed by Snowden.
The first trailer for The Fifth Estate , shows Assange played by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) , attemping to beat the government to release the information on his website.
Directed by Bill Condon, the film has a screenplay by Josh Singer based in part on co-founder and former spokesperson for Wikileaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World’s Most Dangerous WebsiteWikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding.
DreamWorks and Participant Media co-produce the movie and will be released by DreamWorks through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label and Mister Smith Entertainment worldwide.
The Fifth Estate also stars Dan Stevens ( Downton Abbey ), Anthony Mackie ( The Hurt Locker ), and Alicia Vikander ( Anna Karenina )
The Fifth Estate with Benedict Cumberbatch is set to be released on October 11. Benedict Cumberbatch will star in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opening in December.