Benedict Cumberbatch is currently shooting ‘Fifth Estate’, in which he plays the infamous Julian Assange, the man who founded WikiLeaks. Dreamworks has released the first still from the movie [via Tumblr], which features Cumberbatch as Assange and Daniel Bruhl as Daniel Domcheit – Berg. The film is directed by Bill Condon [who directed the last two Twilight films], and looks at how Assange collaborated with key global newspapers. The film was previously called ‘The Man Who Sold the World’.
Benedict Cumberbatch as 'Sherlock'
Anthony Mackie has also joined the cast of ‘The Fifth Estate’, in addition to Cumberbatch, Bruhl, Alicia Vikander, Dan Stevens, and Carice Van Houten.
James McAvoy was originally scheduled to play Domcheit-Berg, but he had scheduling conflicts with X-Men: Days of Future Past and had to drop out. Other actors who auditioned for the role of Domcheit-Berg include Joel Kinnaman, but he lost out to Bruhl. Jeremy Renner was also reportedly keen on the role of Julian Assange, but it was later announced that Benedict Cumberbatch had gotten the role.
Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Sherlock in BBC1's Sherlock series
Participant Media has also joined Dreamworks in co-financing the project, and the film is tentatively set to release in 2014. The cast is currently busy filming the movie right now, and it’s likely that more images will come our way once filming wraps.
Benedict Cumberbatch at the Emmy Awards
