Benedict Cumberbatch to play Ian Fleming?

The untitled film has been in the works for some time and is based on a 2009 biography by Andrew Lycett. It will follow Fleming through the Second World War and his experiences in naval intelligence where he found his inspiration for Bond – a period in his life recently portrayed by Dominic Cooper in Sky Atlantic drama Fleming, which debuted earlier this year to mediocre reviews.

Written by Matthew Brown, the biopic is still without a director after Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) dropped out last year to direct the Warcraft film.

While this is very much still in the rumour stage, there are plenty of reasons why Cumberbatch as Fleming would be an excellent fit. To start with, they're both suave, both sophisticated, both British – characteristics that have often seen Cumberbatch rumoured to play Bond himself.

The Star Trek actor also has a stellar track record of portraying historical British figures to great acclaim, beginning with his Bafta-nominated performance as Stephen Hawking in a BBC drama way back in 2004. We've got our fingers crossed this one turns out to be true...

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