One of the year’s most anticipated, upcoming films has got to be Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate. Starring quite possibly one of the most talented actors currently working in Hollywood, Benedict Cumberbatch, along with a wicked supporting cast that boasts names like Daniel Bruhl, Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci, among others, the film is set to touch down at the Toronto International Film Festival in just a few short weeks.
The Fifth Estate will tell the story of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. Both of those subjects continue to make waves and unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last several years, you’re likely to be at least somewhat familiar with the stir that Assange has been causing around the world due to his organization leaking thousands and thousands of top secret government documents. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that the whole story behind WikiLeaks is a fascinating one and Assange himself is certainly an intriguing figure.
I’ve actually already seen the film but due to an embargo, am unable to talk about it until it premieres at TIFF on September 5th. Given what we know about it though, and judging by what we’ve seen from it, you can probably draw your own conclusions on how it will turn out. I wish I could say more but for now, you’ll have to make your own judgements.
After it plays at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Fifth Estate will land in theatres on October 18th. Check out the photos and plot summary below and let us know what you think in the comments. And be sure to check back in a few weeks as we’ll be posting our review of the film.
Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, “The Fifth Estate” reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world’s most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society—and what are the costs of exposing them?”
A dramatic thriller based on real events, “The Fifth Estate” reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization.
