by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

After playing Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, actor Benedict Cumberbatch will play another kind of magician in a period war drama.

The actor has signed on for The War Magician, a fact based tale about World War II hero Jasper Maskelyne and how his brand of prestidigitation helped win the war for the Allies.

The story goes that Maskelyne put together a “dirty dozen” style group of magicians dubbed “The Magic Gang.” These men would use illusion and trickery to hide strategic targets (such as 150,000 troops and 1,000 tanks) from the Axis Powers and were said to be instrumental in turning the tide of the war against General Rommel and the German forces in North Africa.

The announcement was made by Bob Cooper and Richard Saperstein of Storyscape Entertainment, who are producing the film.

Gary Whitta, who wrote Book of Eli and worked on the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One, will pen the adaptation based on David Fisher’s book. No director has been signed yet.

Cumberbatch seems to enjoy these WWII period piece films. He gained rave reviews for his code-cracking film The Imitation Game last year. With only the talented thespian signed on at the moment, my interest is already piqued.