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Benedict Cumberbatch & 'Sherlock' Director to Manage The Beatles

by Ethan Anderton
October 31, 2012
Source: Heat Vision

Together, director Paul McGuigan and actor Benedict Cumberbatch have been delivering the stellar BBC series "Sherlock," a contemporary adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective. Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes while Martin Freeman plays Watson, and it's been praised by viewers and critics alike. Now Heat Vision reports McGuigan and Cumberbatch are teaming up again for a biopic about Brian Epstein, the manager of the iconic music group The Beatles. However, this will not be the story of Epstein's work with The Beatles only, but rather a chronicle of various points in Epstein's career and life.

Cumberbatch will play Epstein, who came to be known as the "fifth Beatle" by some who knew him. The manager signed the Fab Four in 1961, before they became an international sensation, but he would die 6 years later from an accidental drug overdose. Epstein was addicted to both drugs and gambling, but he was often said to be the glue that held the bad together. Producers describe Epstein as "the man who threw the biggest party of the 1960s but ultimately forgot to invite himself," and that's the story they want to tell.

Funnily enough, there's another Epstein project in the works called The Fifth Beatle that serves as an adaptation of a graphic novel by Vivek J. Tiwary. That project actually has the rights to Beatles songs from Sony and ATV, who control the John Lennon and Paul McCartney music catalogue. But since this currently untitled drama written by Todd Graff (Bandslam, Joyful Noise) being produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (who also produced That Thing You Do) through their Playtone banner isn't just about The Beatles, that shouldn't be a big problem. Sounds like a very interesting role for Cumberbatch to follow-up Star Trek Into Darkness next summer and Twleve Years a Slave with Steve McQueen.

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