Benedict Cumberbatch will star in new TV version of ‘The 39 Steps’
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is leading the cast of a new The 39 Steps adaptation.
The upcoming television mini-series will be based on Scottish author John Buchan’s 1915 spy thriller novel.
The book has previously been adapted for the screen four times, most famously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935, then in 1958 starring Kenneth More, and again in 1978 with Robert Powell.
Most recently, a TV movie for the BBC in 2008 starred Rupert Penry Jones (Persuasion, Spooks).
This latest version will be written by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) and directed by Edward Berger, who previously worked with Cumberbatch on Patrick Melrose.
The 39 Steps follows an ordinary man, Richard Hannay, who becomes an unwitting pawn in a vast, global conspiracy.
The new limited series is described as “a provocative, action-packed conspiracy thriller series.”
As well as playing Richard Hannay, Benedict Cumberbatch will also be an executive producer on the project.
Cumberbatch’s new period drama movie The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is set for release later this year.
The 39 Steps is expected to premiere in 2022.
It was announced this week that Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss is adapting M. R. James’ ghost story The Mezzotint for the BBC this Christmas.
The complete Sherlock box set is available on DVD on Amazon.