WikiLeaks Movie Gets Meta

 

In an amusing turn of events, the full script for The Fifth Estate - the movie that sees Benedict Cumberbatch star as WikiLeaks founder / alleged rapist / international fugitive Julian Assange - has been leaked online... by WikiLeaks.

It sounds like a clever piece of meta-marketing, but this is no publicity stunt. It turns out that WikiLeaks just really hate the movie.

Assange

Alongside the leaked script, WikiLeaks posted some pretty damning things about the film, which they claim is nothing but "fiction masquerading as fact".

"Most of the events depicted never happened, or the people shown were not involved in them," the memo reads.

"It has real names, real places, and looks like it is covering real events, but it is still a dramatic and cinematic work, and it invents or shapes the facts to fit its narrative goals."

Cumberbatch

WikiLeaks submitted via Jeff Skoll of Participant Media suggested corrections," the statement continues.

"These corrections were ignored and the closing text of the finished film retains the falsehoods.

"Although the film has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and numerous other media organizations have been shown review copies, the studio continues to refuse to show the film to WikiLeaks staff.

I'm guessing that Assange won't be sneaking out of the Ecuadorian Embassy where he's been hiding away for a trip to the pictures for this one, then. But if anyone is passing the embassy, kindly return any toys you may find to Mr. Assange's pram.

Also starring Daniel Brühl, The Fifth Estate hits UK cinemas on the 11th October, and releases in the US a week later. See the trailer below.