Benedict Cumberbatch is teaming up with BBC One and “Masterpiece” once again for an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, “The Child In Time.”
The actor will both star and serve as an executive producer of the 90-minute drama, that will see him playing Stephen Lewis, a successful children’s book writer who is struggling with the disappearance of his three-year-old daughter after she was kidnapped. Here’s the book synopsis:
Stephen Lewis, a successful writer of children’s books, is confronted with the unthinkable: his only child, three-year-old Kate, is snatched from him in a supermarket. In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow, Stephen realizes his daughter is gone. With extraordinary tenderness and insight, Booker Prize–winning author Ian McEwan takes us into the dark territory of a marriage devastated by the loss of a child. Kate’s absence sets Stephen and his wife, Julie, on diverging paths as they each struggle with a grief that only seems to intensify with the passage of time. Eloquent and passionate, the novel concludes in a triumphant scene of love and hope that gives full rein to the author’s remarkable gifts.
This is the second time Cumberbatch will appear in an adaption based on a novel by Ian McEwan. He previously starred in the World War II-era British drama “Atonement.” The TV drama will be adapted by screenwriter Stephen Butchard, and helmed by “Marvellous” director Julian Farino. Cumberbatch is currently filming “Avengers: Infinity War” and historical biopic “The Current War,” with the latter likely marking his next big screen appearance. [THR]