With so much dispute surrounding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and as of late NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, it’s no surprise Hollywood is looking to capitalize on the hot-button issues. Released yesterday was the trailer for The Fifth Estate the story on the founding and subsequent controversy over WikiLeaks, the site notorious for publishing U.S. State department diplomatic cables, among other classified information, to the world.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) as Assange alongside Academy Award nominees Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones, The Hunger Games) and Laura Linney (Mystic River, The Truman Show) , this Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls) directed film has all the makings of an exciting, modern-day spy thriller. As of now release date for the flick is October 11.
The storyline is billed by DreamWorks Studios as,
“Through the eyes of Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl), 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.”
All political dispositions aside, I’m not sure I completely agree with how the trailer romanticizes the WikiLeaks situation, though a movie is supposed to be somewhat biased in connection to the writer’s and director’s view of the story. Either way, Cumberbatch looks as if he’ll dominate the screen as Assange and Tucci is arguably the best supporting actor of our generation. Laura Linney is equally clutch and is able to show a vast range, having the uncanny ability to connect and engage the audience or conversely irritate them.
Check out the trailer above and let us know how you think the movie looks in the comments section below.
[Image via ComingSoon.net]
