Benedict Cumberbatch to star in The 39 Steps limited-series

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

According to Deadline, Benedict Cumberbatch is slated to star in a limited-series adaptation of John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, which was famously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 as The 39 Steps.

The 39 Steps will be a "provocative, action-packed conspiracy thriller series that updates the classic novel for our times" as it follows Richard Hannay, an ordinary man who "becomes an unwitting pawn in a vast, global conspiracy to reset the world order: 39 Steps that will change the world as we know it, with only Hannay standing in the way." Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) is slated to script the series which will be directed by Edward Berger (Your Honor). As well as starring in The 39 Steps, Benedict Cumberbatch will also executive produce the series. In addition to the Alfred Hitchcock film, which added a lot of new elements, The Thirty-Nine Steps has received several other feature-film adaptations over the decades, as well as numerous radio adaptations.

Benedict Cumberbatch was most recently seen in The Mauritanian (check out a review from our own JimmyO), a legal drama directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) that was based on Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a memoir based on Salahi's experience of being held for fourteen years without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Cumberbatch is also reprising his role of Doctor Stephen Strange for two Marvel films which are in the midst of production: The untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel as well as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The third standalone MCU Spider-Man film will hit theaters on December 17, 2021, followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022.