Hey Yo, Draven here.
We heard earlier this week that Benedict Cumberbatch was rumored to be close to signing onto STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, but that he had a prior commitment he could not get out of. Well now we might have an idea as to what that commitment is, as Deadline is reporting that Cumberbatch is going to be starring in THE LOST CITY OF Z. This project has been developing for years now and Brad Pitt was originally set to star as Percy Fawcett but it looks like Paramount is serious about getting it off the ground with James Grey still set to write and direct.
THE LOST CITY OF Z is based on a best-selling 2008 book (which itself was an expansion of this great New Yorker article) written by David Grann. It tells the true story of Percy Fawcett, who in 1925 while mapping the Amazon jungle, claimed to have found a lost city that he called Z. People were skeptical of him, so he got a group together and attempted to recreate his journey. The group was never seen again and over the last century, several other groups have attempted to find their remains or evidence of the existence of THE LOST CITY OF Z. Nothing has ever been found and it remains an exploration mystery.
This is obviously great material for a film adaptation and Cumberbatch seems like a great fit for this film. James Grey is also a great writer and director so I actually hope Cumberbatch sticks with this and forgets about STAR WARS. Stay tuned though as we should have some clarification.
Follow me on Twitter here!
