August: Osage County's Benedict Cumberbatch to Star in Bio Film of Beatles Manager Brian Epstein

Stage and screen star Benedict Cumberbatch will team up with Sherlock director Paul McGuigan and screenwriter Todd Graff for a forthcoming biopic about Brain Epstein, the manager of The Beatles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lucky Guy star Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are set to produce alongside Simon Halfon. No filming or release dates have been set.

The new biopic will focus on Epstein’s life, as opposed to the story of The Beatles through Epstein’s point of view. Epstein, who was sometimes known as “the fifth Beatle,” served as the Beatles’ manager from 1961 until 1967, when he died from a drug overdose. Epstein, who suffered from drug and gambling addiction, was a closeted homosexual.

Cumberbatch will star in the forthcoming film adaptation of August: Osage County as “Little” Charles Aiken. His film and TV credits include the movie adaptation of War Horse, Atonement, Amazing Grace and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Cumberbatch's London theater credits include Frankenstein, Hedda Gabler and The Children's Monologues. He currently stars as Sherlock Holmes on the TV crime drama Sherlock.

Click below to see an interview with Epstein and the Fab Four!