Colin Trevorrow to direct Benedict Cumberbatch in War Magician

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Production on Jurassic World: Dominion officially wrapped up late last year, but Colin Trevorrow has lined up his next project as Deadline has reported that he's set to direct War Magician, a World War II drama that will star Benedict Cumberbatch.

War Magician is based on the true story of Jasper Maskelyne, a British illusionist who used magic in order to hide strategic targets, conceal men and machinery, and help turn to the tide of the war against the Nazis during World War II. The film will feature an "international 'magic gang' from Africa, Europe and the Middle East who conspired with Maskelyne and a female military intelligence officer to defeat the Nazis." There's some dispute over how much Maskelyne really did for the war effort, but his techniques were allegedly so effective that Adolf Hitler added the magician to a blacklist of men like Douglas MacArthur and Bernard Montgomery who would receive "special" treatment from the Nazis if they were ever captured alive. Nicholas Mariani is penning the script, which is based the book by David Fisher. Benedict Cumberbatch has actually been attached to star in the film for close to six years, so the project has been a long time coming.

Benedict Cumberbatch is currently in the midst of filming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and he also reprised his role of Doctor Strange for Spider-Man: No Way Home. The Spider-Man sequel is slated for a December 17, 2021 release, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set for a March 23, 2022 release. Cumberbatch was most recently seen in The Mauritanian, and you can check out a review of that film from our own JimmyO right here. Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World: Dominion is set to hit theaters on June 10, 2022.