Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is reuniting with director Edward Berger for a new Netflix adaptation of the thriller novel The Thirty-Nine Steps.
Cumberbatch will tackle an updated version of the John Buchan book in a limited series for the streamer, with his Patrick Melrose director Berger behind the camera.
The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith will pen the script for the project, which has been retitled The 39 Steps and will focus on an ordinary man named Richard Hannay, who gets caught up in a global conspiracy theory.
The NEW The Thirty-Nine Steps will bring the story into a contemporary setting, which focuses on a man in London named Hannay, who tries to help a counter-espionage Agent. But when the Agent is killed and Hannay stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
The Buchan novel, set just before World War One, has been adapted for the screen numerous times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935, with Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll in the lead roles.
In addition to his starring role IN The Thirty-Nine Steps, Cumberbatch will executive produce with his producing partner Adam Ackland via their SunnyMarch studio. Smith and Berger will also serve as executive producers alongside Sophie Gardiner for Chapter One Pictures, Cliff Roberts for Syndicate Entertainment, and Keith Redmon for Anonymous Content.
Cumberbatch currently has several films in post-production, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Power of the Dog, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. He also has many projects on the horizon, including starring roles in Bart Layton’s Rogue Male, Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Rio, another Edward Berger joint, as well as the animated fantasy Magik.
Deadline reports there will be six or more hourlong episodes in The Thirty-Nine Steps, and the production is most likely to shoot next year in Europe when schedules clear.
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