Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as poisoned KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko for a new HBO Limited Series, Londongrad. Variety was first to report the news.
Alexander Litvinenko was a KGB agent that defected and was later killed by poisoning in 2006 with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in England.
The series is based on the book by Alan Cowell, The Terminal Spy. David Scarpa will pen the script and executive produce, with Bryan Fogel directing and also executive producing via Orwell Productions. Len Amato of Crash&Salvage and Cumberbatch, Adam Ackland, and Claire Marshall under their Sunnymarch banner will also serve as executive producers.
Cumberbatch is no stranger to television, his career has held a balance of TV and films since his massive breakout role in BBC’s Sherlock, though many incredible performances predated that series. His television career includes three season of Sherlock, the limited series Patrick Melrose based on the semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St. Aubyn, and the 2012 5-episode series Parade’s End.
The actor currently has two films releasing in the final two months of this year, The Power of the Dog for Netflix and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain for Prime Video/BBC. He will also reprise his role as Dr. Stephen Strange in the standalone sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was recently delayed to May 6, 2022.
