Benedict Cumberbatch has discussed the financial failure of The Fifth Estate, Digital Spy said.

The Bill Condon-directed drama about WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was recently named the biggest financial flop of the year, earning back only 21% of its budget at the international box office.

"I think it's a better film than many that have done better than it did at the box office, and why that's the case I don't know," Cumberbatch told Digital Spy and other journalists.

"I can take a hit, in the sense that I've had good hits as well, but [box office] isn't why I do the work. I mean, of course there's a concern actors have about being bankable, but it hasn't seemed to affect the industry's interest in me or the offers I've had since."

Reviews of the film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, were mixed, although Cumberbatch's performance as Assange was universally praised.

"I've had very positive feedback about my work in that film, and if I was asked to do the job again, I'd do it," he added. "It's a fascinating character in an extraordinary period."

Cumberbatch will next be seen in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is released this Friday (December 13).