Benedict Cumberbatch to star in ‘How To Stop Time’ series adaptation

Matt Haig‘s wonderful novel How to Stop Time is being adapted for television!

Published in 2017, Haig’s history-spanning story has been described as “The Time Traveler’s Wife meets The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

We absolutely adored the book, so it’s exciting to report that it’s being made into a TV show by Benedict Cumberbatch.

The adaptation was originally planned as a movie, but Deadline reports that it’ll now become a six-part mini-series.

Filming is set to commence in London and around Europe next year, with Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) directing.

Scripts are being written by DC Moore, whose new Sky period drama Mary & George is currently in production.

“How many lifetimes does it take to learn how to live?” asks the official synopsis for How to Stop Time.

“Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he’s been alive for centuries,” the blurb explains.

“From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can keep one step ahead of his past – and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love…”

Cumberbatch will be playing our hero Tom, and he’s also involved as a producer.

StudioCanal exec Anna Marsh has called the project a “hugely exciting and ambitious series.”

“When I first read How to Stop Time, the potential of this story was immediately obvious,” Cumberbatch previously revealed.

“In his inimitable style, Matt once again explores what it is to be human and what it is to live a life – a very long one in this case – with pathos, insight, humour, drama and inspiration.”

The same team are also working on a movie version of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library novel.

Meanwhile, other projects on the horizon for Benedict Cumberbatch include English peasant revolt drama The Hood, Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

He’s also got Second World War drama The War Magician and a new TV adaptation of The 39 Steps on the way!

Matt Haig’s How To Stop Time novel is available on Amazon.