Condon & Cumberbatch's FIFTH ESTATE Released Today

Stage and screen rising superstar Benedict Cumberbatch essays the role of a lifetime in portraying controversial modern-day figure Julian Assange in the new Bill Condon-directed biopic THE FIFTH ESTATE and the release date for the highly anticipated film was moved up more than a month by distributor Disney, signaling the studio's faith in the controversial project, with it hitting select theaters today.

THE FIFTH ESTATE was originally scheduled to debut on November 15, but Disney and DreamWorks have now moved up the release date to today, October 11, with a wide release set for October 18.

THE FIFTH ESTATE 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 Luke Harding and David Leigh, with a screenplay by Josh Singer.

The official synopsis of THE FIFTH ESTATE is as follows: "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."

In addition to Cumberbatch, THE FIFTH ESTATE also features Carice van Houten, Anthony Mackie, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney, David Thewlis and Dan Stevens.

Photo Credit: DreamWorks

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