The previously untitled WikiLeaks film directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) will now be titled The Fifth Estate.  The first image from the film has also debuted.  It features Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Julian Assange with Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) as Daniel Domscheit-Berg.  The Fifth Estate centers on the polarizing figure of Assange from the rise of his WikiLeaks website to the eventual controversial explosion over leaked government documents.  The film is now slated to release on November 15, 2013.  Hit the jump for the full press release and to see the first image from The Fifth Estate.

We recently reported that James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) was in negotiations to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) in director Bill Condon’s Julian Assange/WikiLeaks movie, but it looks like that role has fallen to Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds). With Cumberbatch set to play WikiLeaks founder Assange, Brühl will play his right-hand man, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Domscheit-Berg was a German tech activist who became a spokesman for the organization and wrote the book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website, the rights of which were picked up by DreamWorks. Hit the jump for more. 

WikiLeaks is a fascinating entity and one that could only exist in our modern technological landscape.  Furthermore, there’s the controversial figure of Julian Assange at the center.  As we previously reported, DreamWorks is planning to use two books as the basis for a WikiLeaks/Julian Assange film: Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange At The World’s Most Dangerous Website, and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy by The Guardian reporters David Leigh and Luke Harding.  Benedict Cumberbatch will play Assange, and James McAvoy is circling the role of Domscheit-Berg.  Today, The Wrap reports that yet another talented actor, Laura Linney, is in talks to the join the project.  However, there are currently no details on the part she would play.

Linney will next be seen in Hyde Park on Hudson, which opens on December 7th.  Click here for my review.

There are a number of projects in development about WikiLeaks and/or WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but one such film may now be moving closer to a reality.  Per Deadline, Jeremy Renner is apparently keen on playing Assange in DreamWorks’ iteration of the story, with Kinsey and Twilight: Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon looking at possible taking the helm.  No solid movement has been made concerning Renner or Condon, but the two would make an interesting team to tackle one of the most high profile stories of the last decade.  Hit the jump for more.