With his The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 hitting theaters next week, director Bill Condon is prepping his next project, a still-untitled narrative that follows the true story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Today, Variety is reporting that James McAvoy is in talks to play Daniel Domcheit-Berg opposite Benedict Cumberbatch’s Assange.
Domcheit-Berg is the author of “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World’s Most Dangerous Website,” the book upon which the DreamWorks production will be based. Published in 2011, it is officially described as follows:
Since its launch in 2006, WikiLeaks has rapidly grown into the most powerful and influential whistleblowing organisation ever. Its status as a repository and publisher of leaked sensitive and confidential documents while preserving the anonymity and untraceability of its contributors as well as the statements and behaviour of its leader, Julian Assange, have made WikiLeaks daily front-page news and a topic of enormous controversy.
In this eye-opening account, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who joined WikiLeaks in its early days and became its spokesman, reveals never-disclosed details about the inner workings of the organisation that has struck fear into governments and businesses worldwide. He also provides a remarkably up-close portrait of Julian Assange himself.
Under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt, Domscheit-Berg was effectively No. 2 at WikiLeaks and the organisations most public face after Julian Assange. In this book, he tells the backstories of major leaks, and reveals the evolution, finances, and inner tensions of the whistleblower organisation, beginning with his first meeting with Assange in December 2007. He also describes what led to his September 2010 withdrawal from WikiLeaks, including his disenchantment with the organisations lack of transparency, its abandonment of political neutrality, and Assanges increasing concentration of power.
McAvoy recently starred in X-Men: First Class and provided a voice for Arthur Christmas. He can next be seen on the big screen in Welcome to the Punch.
(Photo Credit: WENN.com)
