Benedict Cumberbatch Hoping To Adapt Classic British Novel ‘Rogue Male’ Next Year
Benedict Cumberbatch has confirmed that he remains committed to adapting Rogue Male, the classic British novel that he says inspired Ian Fleming to write James Bond.
Cumberbatch and his production company SunnyMarch announced in 2016 that they planned to adapt Geoffrey Household’s book, but the feature film has yet to get off the ground.
Speaking on the SmartLess podcast, hosted by Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman, and Will Arnett, Cumberbatch said he hoped to slate the shoot for 2026.
He warned, however, that “there are other huge commitments involving cloaks floating about,” which appeared to be confirmation that he is reprising his role as Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“We haven’t got a filming date yet, but it’s something we’re trying to slate for next year,” Cumberbatch said. “We will make it, definitely.”
Published in 1939, Rogue Male follows an unnamed English sportsman who attempts to assassinate a European dictator, strongly implied to be Adolf Hitler. He is caught, tortured and left for dead, but escapes back to England, where he hides out in the countryside with enemy agents and police in pursuit.
“It’s the original fugitive novel and a huge inspiration for Ian Fleming for Bond,” Cumberbatch continued. “When we first sat down to talk about this, [we thought] is this a bit of a guy’s film?
“The longer we were exploring the themes of it and the motivation behind the guy’s actions, and the outcome, and how he’s turned on by his own side, as well as the side he’s tried to take down, it’s fascinating how it plays into the political spectrum of what’s going on in the world right now.”
When the project was first announced, Michael Lesslie (Macbeth, Assassin’s Creed) was hired to write the screenplay. It was set up at Fox Searchlight, and Cumberbatch was slated to star.
Peter O’Toole appeared in a BBC adaptation of Rogue Male made for television in 1977. Twentieth Century Fox adapted the novel in 1940 as Man Hunt.
