Ian McKellen to Play a Retired Sherlock Holmes in Bill Condon's Film A Slight Trick of the Mind

Elementary, my dear theater fans! Tony winner and Oscar nominee Ian McKellen will play a retired Sherlock Holmes in a new film from Dreamgirls and Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon. According to Deadline.com, A Slight Trick of the Mind will be set in 1947 and will follow Holmes living out his twilight years in a Sussex village with his housekeeper and her son.

Based on Mitch Cullin's novel of the same name and a screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher, A Slight Trick of the Mind finds the perceptive detective haunted by an unsolved case from 50 years ago, remembering only a confrontation with a volatile husband and secret bond with his wife. The film marks the second collaboration between Condon and McKellen after Gods and Monsters, which won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Condon and Best Actor nomination for McKellen.

McKellen, along with Tony nominee Patrick Stewart and Tony winners Billy Crudup and Shuler Hensley, will soon appear in the Broadway mounting of No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot. Directed by Sean Mathias, the production begins performances October 26 at the Cort Theatre with opening night set for November 24.