Benedict Cumberbatch is set to star in and produce an adaptation of ‘Rogue Male’.
The 40-year-old actor will take on the lead role in the big-screen version of Geoffrey Household’s classic novel, which tells the story of a hunter who is caught, tortured and left for dead after a failed attempt to assassinate a dictator.
Benedict told The Hollywood Reporter: "I am thrilled both as an actor and producer to be working on bringing this most treasured of English novels to the big screen."
Michael Lesslie, who worked on scripts for ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’, will write the screenplay while Lloyd Levin, Branwen Prestwood Smith and Beatriz Levin of Black Sheep Pictures and Adam Ackland of Benedict’s production company SunnyMarch, will produce.
The novel was previously adapted in 1940 as the movie ‘Man Hunt’, while Peter O’Toole starred in a BBC TV production of it in 1977.
Speaking about the novel in the 1970s, Household said: "Although the idea for Rogue Male germinated from my intense dislike of Hitler, I did not actually name him in the book as things were a bit tricky at the time and I thought I would leave it open so that the target could be either Hitler or Stalin. You could take your pick."
Meanwhile, Benedict is set to make his Marvel debut in ‘Doctor Strange’, in which he plays neurosurgeon Stephen Strange, who develops into the titular superhero following a shocking accident.
The movie will be released in October and co-stars Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Benedict Cumberbatch to star in Rogue Male
