Benedict Cumberbatch to Trade His Kingdom For a Horse in Richard III

Benedict Cumberbatch is facing a winter of discontent. The Sherlock star, who will be treading the boards as Hamlet in London in 2015, is also taking on another Shakespeare classic: Richard III. According to Variety, Cumberbatch will play the evil king in an upcoming film for BBC 2, directed by Dominic Cooke and adapted by Ben Power.

"I can't wait to work with Dominic Cooke again to bring this complex, funny and dangerous character to life,” said Cumberbatch. Co-incidentally, his Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman, is tackling Richard III in London’s West End this summer.

Cumberbatch of course, is not just a detective that wins everyone's hearts, or a major movie star with huge buzz around his upcoming turn as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and credits in films such as 12 Years A Slave, August: Osage County and Star Trek: Into Darkness. He’s also a bona fide stage star. For his performance in the National Theatre’s 2011 production of Frankenstein, Cumberbatch won the “Triple Crown of London Theatre:” the Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor. He has also appeared in productions of Hedda Gabler and After the Dance.