Hollywood occasionally feels the need to makes flawed figures into heroes. Consider the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, which made the titular porn titan into a towering figure in the free speech movement.
Later this year, The Fifth Estate may provide a similar makeover for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The film’s first trailer hit the web today, and it shows a heroic Assange fighting to share truth with the world, stop injustice and prevent future tragedies.
He’s a white hatted protagonist with an agenda that amounts to “truth, justice … the American way,” according to Laura Linney’s character in the film.
Assange, played by gifted actor Benedict Cumberbath of Star Trek Into Darkness fame, gives Assange both European good looks and an air of righteous fury.
Yes, the trailer flashes the message that some see him as a traitor, and it appears to dig into some of his romantic exploits. The takeaway is clear–Assange is a truth seeker of the highest order, and the film will show that in all its glory.
“Courageous is contagious,” Assange says at one point in the trailer.
The Fifth Estate hits theaters Oct. 11.
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