Benedict Cumberbatch To Play A Man Who Used Magic To Defeat Nazis In New Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch will star in a new World War II drama from Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow in which he plays a real-world illusionist who used magic to beat the Nazis.

The movie is called War Magician, and it tells the story of Jasper Maskelyne, a British magician who was brought in by the military to help take down Erwin Rommell during the war. The movie is based on the book by David Fisher, adapted for the screen by E. Nicholas Mariani.

From Deadline's report:

"Trevorrow's take features an international “magic gang” from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East who conspired with Maskelyne and a female military intelligence officer to defeat the Nazis."

Gary Whitta, the former editor in chief of PC Gamer magazine who also wrote the movies Book of Eli and Star Wars: Rogue One, penned an earlier draft of War Magician, as did Richard Cordiner. Whitta said on Twitter, "Having played a small part in the history of this project I'm excited to see it moving forward! Great story."

Trevorrow's latest movie is Jurassic World: Dominion, which recently finished filming after delays and interruptions related to the pandemic. The situation surrounding Dominion is said to be the inspiration for Judd Apatow's new pandemic comedy, The Bubble.

As for Cumberbatch, he is currently filming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with director Sam Raimi. Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange is rumored to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but the actor can't say anything about that.