Benedict Cumberbatch is Julian Assange in First Trailer for 'The Fifth Estate'

As the world contemplates whether Edward Snowden is a traitor, a heroic whistleblower, or both, it's also drawn renewed interest in Julian Assange, the man who brought information leaking into the public eye with WikiLeaks. One of the most powerful and complicated figures in our time, Assange's story has been told from numerous perspectives in just the last year alone, with the former hacker lending his full support behind the more positive portrayals, and publicly deriding everything else. The latest to be denied the Assange stamp of approval is The Fifth Estate, and whether he likes it or not, it's likely to draw the most attention.

The first trailer has been released, giving us a look at a silver-haired Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange, and Daniel Bruhl as Wikileaks co-founder Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Directed by Bill Condon and based on a pair of books, one written by Domscheit-Berg himself, the story follows the early days of WikiLeaks and its rise to power, culminating in the leaking of classified information that redefined how we look at the keeping of government secrets in a free and transparent nation. Alongside Cumberbatch and Bruhl are co-stars Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Alicia Vikander, Peter Capaldi, Carice van Houten, Dan Stevens, Stanley Tucci and Laura Linney.

It's unclear if the film will explore what some say was Assange's corruption at the power he was able to wield, or if it will be a more balanced look at the Wikileaks organization as a whole. Either way, The Fifth Estate is going to make a lot of noise when it opens on October 18th.