Star Wars fans have been eagerly awaiting more concrete news about the anticipated Episode VII. While plenty of rumors have been circulating, including one involving a certain Sherlock star possibly joining the cast, full confirmations have been slim so far. The latest casting rumor for the project is a report that Benedict Cumberbatch's casting confirmation is going to happen at some point in the near future.
Via BleedingCool.com, TheFilmChronicles reports that the expected big casting announcement will be confirmation that Cumberbatch is signing on for the film. No specifics on who he might be playing were mentioned, though the site says casting calls suggests there might be a few early twentysomthings brought in to play offspring of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. If they're aiming for teens or early twenty somethings for those roles, that rules out Cumberbatch, who's 37. But perhaps he's related to some of the lead characters in another way. Or maybe he's a completely new creation. A hero or a villain? Well, we know he's capable of both.
While we still have to wait for actual confirmation of this news, Bleeding Cool points out that Cumberbatch did recently drop out of Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak, though the reason given for that at the time was said to not be due to involvement in another project, which may have been the case at the time. The site also points out the timing of this news, as it comes a week ahead of the DVD/Blu-ray release of Star Trek Into Darkness, another beloved sci-fi franchise, and the film that ties Cumberbatch to Star Wars: Episode VII director JJ Abrams.
Benedict Cumberbatch is a hot commodity these days. In addition to playing the lead in Sherlock and the villain in Star Trek into Darkness, his credits also include The Hobbit films and John Wells' upcoming film August: Osage County, which is due to hit theaters with a limited release in the UK and U.S. this December. At this point, the Star Wars report should still be filed under rumor, but given his outstanding performances in past projects, it would be worth celebrating if it turns out to be true. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if he is cast in the film, who do you think he'll play?
Catch up on the latest news and rumors for Star Wars: Episode VII here.
