Wikileaks film bombs at US box office
A Hollywood dramatisation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s role as a whistleblower has suffered the worst opening weekend of any major film this year.
The Fifth Estate starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange cost an estimated £18.5m to film but raked in a paltry £1m from 1,769 cinemas on its opening weekend.
It follows a weak critical reception for the film which has seen it sink to eighth in the US box office for the weekend of October 18-20.
WikiLeaks has been gloating at the poor performance of the movie, which it has itself panned, issuing a statement encouraging cinemagoers to watch Mediastan, a film they co-produced.
This said: “In the words of WikiLeaks founder and Mediastan producer Julian Assange: Why is everybody watching David? Because Goliath is an insufferable bore'.”