First Look: Benedict Cumberbatch Plays Julian Assange in ‘Fifth Estate’

Benedict Cumberbatch, known for his roles in BBC’s Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness, is starring in the upcoming film The Fifth Estate as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.  The movie is a fictionalized account of the WikiLeaks saga, where Assange leaked confidential information about the U.S. military’s operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to newspapers including The Guardian and The New York Times. The screenplay is based on the books 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.

Bill Condon (Dreamgirls and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) are directing the film, which also stars Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci, Dan Stevens, Anthony Mackie, and Peter Capaldi.  The Fifth Estate hits theaters October 18, 2013.

Check out the trailer for The Fifth Estate below: