Academy Award-winning writer/director Bill Condon, whose Wikileaks pic THE FIFTH ESTATE premieres at the Toronto Film Festival tonight, has confirmed he will direct his GODS & MONSTERS lead Sir. Ian McKellen in an adaptation of Mitch Cullin’s novel, ‘A Slight Trick Of The Mind’. The film will centre on a retired version of Arthur Conan-Doyle’s iconic sleuth Sherlock Holmes, who remains haunted by one of his unsolved cases.
McKellen was Oscar-nominated for his role of the tormented director of 1931s FRANKENSTEIN, James Whale, in Condon’s acclaimed biopic focusing the final days of the gay filmmaker. THE DUCHESS’ Jeffrey Hatcher has written the screenplay, while AI Productions and BBC Films will co-finance the film.
It appears Conon-Doyle’s creation is a popular as ever with the recent big-budget blocker franchise by Guy Ritchie and BBC’s modern-set hit series SHERLOCK bringing the character a whole host of new fans.
Source: Deadline
