Aside from having the greatest name ever, Benedict Cumberbatch has been doing pretty well for himself. He’s got a hit TV show and is making big strides into Hollywood, what with his role as the baddie in Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit films, The Fifth Estate, August: Osage County, and 12 Years A Slave. Everybody wants a piece of this guy, including his Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy co-star Gary Oldman, who we recently reported is interested in casting Cumberbatch in his biopic of film pioneer Eadweard Muybridge, entitled Flying Horse. Now it appears that Cumberbatch might very well be interested in that part.
The part Cumberbatch would be playing in Flying Horse is not Muybridge, but Major Harry Larkyns. Larkyns was the theatre critic that Muybridge murdered in 1874 after discovering that Larkyns had an affair with his wife and possibly fathered their son Florado. Muybridge tracked down Larkyns and shot him at point-blank range, then later pleaded insanity to the murder charges. If the cast that Gary Oldman wants comes through, Muybridge will be played by Ralph Fiennes, while Cumberbatch takes on the role of Larkyns.
In other Cumberbatchiana, Matthew Goode has signed on to star with Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, along with Keira Knightley. Cumberbatch is playing Alan Turing, a code-breaker during World War II who helped to break the Enigma code used by the Nazis. Goode will play another code-breaker named Hugh Alexander.
In any case, we can expect a lot of Benedict Cumberbatch in Hollywood and abroad from now on. His role in Star Trek Into Darkness might not have been surprising, but he was one hell of a villain regardless. I hope he takes on the role for Oldman in Flying Horse and I look forward to seeing him in The Imitation Game. I’m also still crossing my fingers for a sequel to Tinker Tailor.
