We're still over a month away from the 2013 Oscars, but consider the 2014 season open, courtesy of DreamWorks. The company (who are leading the field with "Lincoln" this year) have been prepping their WikiLeaks movie, directed by "Gods and Monsters" and "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" helmer Bill Condon, for some time, but it was slightly unclear when it would be hitting theaters. But with filming now underway, they've put their cards on the table, revealing a title, an awards-season release date, and an impressive supporting cast.
The film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange and "Rush" and "Inglourious Basterds" actor Daniel Bruhl as his Wikileaks co-founder Daniel Domscheit-Berg, is now titled "The Fifth Estate," and it has been set for a November 15th release date (opposite the sequel to "The Best Man," although jammed between "Thor: The Dark World" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" in the weeks before and after) . And joining Cumberbatch, Bruhl, Laura Linney, "Downton Abbey" star Dan Stevens, "Anna Karenina" thesp Alicia Vikander, and "Black Book" actress Carice Van Houten are Anthony Mackie ("The Hurt Locker"), David Thewlis ("Harry Potter"), and Peter Capaldi ("In The Loop").
While we have mixed feelings about Condon's work, that's an almighty cast, and being based on the books "Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World's Most Dangerous Website" (by Domscheit-Berg) and "WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy" (by David Leigh and Luke Harding) it has the potential to be a fascinating look at the controversial organization. And a script from Josh Singer ("The West Wing") only reinforces that this is clearly going for a "Social Network" kind of vibe. Will we see Cumberbatch & co. lauded come awards season next year? You can find out when "The Fifth Estate" hits theaters on November 15th. [Screen Daily/ONTD]