It looks like we'll have to keep waiting for the reunion between "Atonement" and "Starter For 10" stars Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy. While it was just a few weeks ago that it was reported the pair would team for the Bill Condon-directed WikiLeaks movie, it looks like McAvoy has moved on.
THR reports that Daniel Bruhl ("Inglourious Basterds," "Joyeux Noel," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Goodbye Lenin!") has replaced the actor in the film. Simply put, it's down to scheduling as McAvoy can't work around his commitments for "X-Men: Days of Future Past," as DreamWorks wants to get this movie up and running in January. Based on the books "Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World's Most Dangerous Website" and "WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy," and penned by Josh Singer ("The West Wing," "Fringe"), the film will present Assange as a whistleblower who apparently let power get to his head and let the ethics of his work slide, much to the chagrin of his right hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Bruhl), who also just happened to write that 'Inside Julian Assange' book. Hmm…
Meanwhile, despite The Wrap's claims that Laura Linney was in talks for a role, THR says there have been no negotiations or offers, but there is "interest" in having her play a CIA officer of some kind. So, we'll see. But this is a nice role for Bruhl, who will be making quite an impression in 2013 with big parts in Ron Howard's racing drama "Rush" and Anton Corbijn's thriller "A Most Wanted Man."