(NEW YORK) On Friday night, the stars came out for the screening of DreamWorks Pictures’ The Fifth Estate hosted by The Cinema Society, Vanity Fair, and Richard Mille at The Crosby Hotel in Soho. In the thriller flick Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the infamous Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange and chronicles his infamous rise as the founder of the internet portal, which publishes confidential material anonymously. “It has not been without its difficulties,” said Cumberbatch to the crowd before the screening. “[Julian Assange] had very clear reasons why he didn’t want to participate and why he didn’t want me to participate, as you’ve probably read on the internet.” The film chronicles how Assange and his acolyte turned partner turned enemy, Daniel Domscheit-Berg (played by Daniel Brühl) published documents on that exposed everything from corruption in Kenya, the banking system, environmental pollution, and most notoriously, the 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables. The film questions privacy issues and as Cumberbatch puts it, “It’s about the currency of secrets and what should be known and what should be private or public.” And he added that as an actor, he obviously has opinions on the subject.
No doubt some other attendees might have some opinions on privacy as well. Anna Wintour showed up to the screening with beau Shelby Bryan and son Charlie Shaffer. Wintour sat in the very last row of the theater, near the exit (but stayed the duration of the film) and wore her trademark sunglasses through the entire film. Guess those aren’t just there to ward off the bright lights at fashion shows!
Other Vogue attendees included Grace Coddington and Sally Singer. Plus, Calvin Klein, Salman Rushdie, Amy Sacco, Zachary Quinto, Ian McKellen, Freida Pinto, Paul Haggis, Josh Lucas, and Kelly Rutherford. After the screening, guests headed over to the new Marlton Hotel on West 8th Street where they sipped on Qui Tequila cocktails. Cumberbatch was spotted relaxing outside on the fire escape where other guests were found enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Enjoy it while it lasts, right?
BY PAIGE REDDINGER
