Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has made no bones about the fact that he wants nothing to do with a film based on his life. When director Bill Condon (Gods And Monsters) took up the challenge to adapt the book Inside WikiLeaks by its spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg, he knew he’d struggle to get Assange’s blessing. He still hasn’t, but does this matter when it boils down to the success of the flick? Apparently not, as the first trailer for The Fifth Estate has landed and it looks pretty dang compelling.
The film stars Daniel Bruhl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange. It follows the burgeoning years of the WikiLeaks phenomenon and how the two changed history. If you’ve paid attention to the news over recent years, or indeed seen the documentary We Steal Secrets, you’ll be familiar with the subject matter. This however, is a feature and it relies on the talent of its cast to hammer home the points. So far, it looks like everyone is doing a great job.
Bruhl and Cumberbatch are joined by castmates Laura Linney, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, Alicia Vikander, Carice Van Outen, Anthony Mackie and Dan Stevens. You can check out the plot summary below.
Through the eyes of Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl), an early supporter and eventual colleague of Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the film follows the heady, early days of Wikileaks to its abrupt end after a series of controversial and history changing info leaks. The website’s overnight success brought instant fame to its principal architects, but as their power expanded across the globe, Daniel grew increasingly disillusioned with Julian’s questionable tactics and ethics. The rift between the two friends became irreparable and their ideological differences tore them apart, but not before they revolutionized, for better and worse, the flow of information to news media and the world at large.
The Fifth Estate hits cinemas on October 11th. Give the trailer a watch and let us know what you think.