Benedict Cumberbatch to star in an updated adaptation of The 39 Steps

Deadline

The actor has signed on for an Anonymous Content-produced limited series update of John Buchan’s novel, which was turned into Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1935 film. The Revenant co-writer Mark L. Smith will pen the script. "The 39 Steps is a provocative, action-packed conspiracy thriller series that updates the classic novel for our times," per Deadline. "An ordinary man, Richard Hannay, becomes an unwitting pawn in a vast, global conspiracy to reset the world order: 39 Steps that will change the world as we know it, with only Hannay standing in the way."