Thursday 18 March 2021 (2:55 PM)
Benedict Cumberbatch /fot.EPA/NEIL HALL
The actor who is best known for the role of Sherlock Holmes in the series “Sherlock” will play Jasper Masklin, the world famous prankster who helped the British Army during World War II. His story fascinated David Fisher, who wrote the book “The Wizard of War” about the adventures of Masklin. This is also the title of “War Wizard” of Colón Trevoro’s film (“Jurassic World”).
It is a wonderful and extraordinary story in history that took place during the Second World War. Its main character is the great wizard Jasper Masklin. The British government recruited him to lead the top-secret Magic Gang unit to support military operations. And masters of magic and illusion can work miracles: during the hostilities, they managed to hide the Suez Canal, replace tanks with trucks, create non-existent armies and submarine fleets, and even build a ghost warship. One of the greatest achievements of this group was the deception of German soldiers from Afrikaans – we read in the official description of Fischer’s book.
The script for “The Wizard of War”, based on Fisher’s book, was written by E. Nicholas Mariani. Richard Cordiner and Gary Wita wrote earlier versions of the script. Information on this new project by Colin Trevorrow was first reported by the “Deadline” portal. Not long ago, Trevorrow completed the third part of their dinosaur series, Jurassic World: Dominion.
This is not the first attempt to make a film about the fate of Jasper Masklin. In 2003, Peter Weir was trying to adapt Fisher’s book (“A Walk in the Hanging Rock”). Tom Cruise was also starring in it. Benedict Cumberbatch has been associated with the Maskelyn movie project since 2015, when it was not yet known who would direct the movie.
Cumberbatch was recently seen in another fact-based movie – “The Moorish” by Kevin MacDonald, where he starred opposite Jodie Foster. Soon, the biographical film “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” appeared, in which the actor played the painter of the same name and Cumberbatch would reprise the role of Doctor Strange in the Marvel comic books “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in” the Multiverse of Madness “(PAP Life).
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