Benedict Cumberbatch is being lined up to play WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a new movie.
The ‘Sherlock’ actor – who recently made a break into Hollywood in movies including ‘War Horse’ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ – is being lined up by DreamWorks to play the controversial character, with Joel Kinnaman playing Daniel Domscheit-Berg, according to Deadline.com
Julian launched WikiLeaks in 2006 and caused embarrassment to world governments by leaking diplomatic cables around the world.
He is currently housed in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been granted diplomatic asylum after the Swedish government claimed they wanted him extradited to face questioning about a case of rape and sexual assault.
It is believed an extradition to Sweden could lead to a further extradition to the US, where he could face charges over the leaks.
‘Twilight’ filmmaker Bill Condon is being lined up to direct the movie.
Benedict has a number of forthcoming roles, including alongside Meryl Streep in ‘August: Osage County’ and ‘Twelve Years A Slave’ by ‘Shame’ director Steve McQueen.