Principal photography for The Fifth Estate — a film based on the WikiLeaks saga — kicked off Wednesday.

The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Julian Assange and Daniel Bruhl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Bill Condon, best known for Dreamgirls, Kinsey and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, is directing.

Two books are serving as the basis for the film: Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by David Leigh and Luke Harding.

According to DreamWorks, the studio spearheading the film, it will chronicle the early days of WikiLeaks leading up to the release of the Afghan War Diary in July 2010. Think The Social Network meets The Pentagon Papers.

DreamWorks and its co-financier Participant Media are targeting a Nov. 15, 2013 release date for The Fifth Estate. Here's what Condon had to say about the movie:

"It may be decades before we understand the full impact of WikiLeaks and how it's revolutionized the spread of information. So this film won't claim any long view authority on its subject, or attempt any final judgment. We want to explore the complexities and challenges of transparency in the information age and, we hope, enliven and enrich the conversations WikiLeaks has already provoked."

While critics might be quick to write the film off, remember this: we all laughed off the idea of a Facebook movie. The Social Network wound up winning two Oscars.

Do you have high hopes for a WikiLeaks movie? Let us know in the comments.

Image Courtesy of Frank Connor/DreamWorks