Studiocanal & Benedict Cumberbatch Ready ‘How To Stop Time’ TV Series
17.04.2023 - 13:07
/ deadline.com
Studiocanal and SunnyMarch are to soon enter production on the Beneditch Cumberbatch-starring How to Stop Time, which has been rejigged from a feature to a TV series.
Studiocanal optioned the Matt Haig novel six years ago and was initially developing as a feature with Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch, which it part owns. After a hefty hiatus, Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh revealed at Mip TV today that the project will now be a six-part TV series, with Cumberbatch and SunnyMarch still attached.
DC Moore (Sky/AMC’s Mary & George) and Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will write and direct respectively and filming will begin in London and across Europe next year.
The genre-bending book is a high-stakes superhero thriller about men and women who suffer from a rare condition that makes them live for hundreds and hundreds of years. Born in 15th century France, Cumberbatch’s Tom Hazard has time and time again lost everything he loves. More than 600 years on from his birth, he is caught in the middle of a secret war.
The show reunites Studiocanal with Cumberbatch, Adam Ackland, Claire Marshall, Leah Clarke, Alfredson and Robyn Slovo, who combined for 2011’s BAFTA winning and Academy Award-nominated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
“When I first read How to Stop Time, the potential of this story was immediately obvious,” said Cumberbatch. “In his inimitable style, Matt once again explores what it is to be human and what it is to live a life – a very long one in this case – with pathos, insight, humour, drama and inspiration.”
Marsh described the project as a “hugely exciting and ambitious series.” Studiocanal EVP Global Production Ron Halpern and SVP Global Production Joe Naftalin are EPs alongside Moore, Alfredson, Haig and Jamie