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Benedict Cumberbatch to Star in World War II Drama ‘War Magician’

Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch is set to star in “War Magician,” the newest film from StudioCanal. The WWII movie is helmed by “Jurassic World: Dominion” director Colin Trevorrow and is an adaptation of the David Fisher book. E. Nicholas Mariani is authoring the script alongside Fisher.

This is simply the most British movie of all time. Sure “Dunkirk,” “The King’s Speech” and “Billy Elliot” are all great films reveling in their Englishness. But “War Magician” takes the crumpets. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, who is the face of England at this point, is being directed by an Englishman, and is being produced by one of the largest media companies in Europe. Still not convinced? Listen to this plot-line:

Jasper Maskelyne, played by Cumberbatch, is a British illusionist who utilized magic to defeat Erwin Rommell in World War II. He is accompanied by an international “magic gang” and a British intelligence officer, who together conspire to destroy the Rommel-led Nazis.

Oh, it’s also based on a true story.

It hits all the marks. There’s a World War II backdrop in which the British defeat the enemy Nazis. There’s a British man as the hero of the story, who, I’m guessing, succeeds despite the non-British people standing in his way. And, to top it all off, there’s magic! Not the wizarding, fantastical type of magic(although Brits love that too), but the “real,” illusionary magic of common folk a là “The Prestige.”

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I’d also like to point out this is the third time Benedict Cumberbatch is playing a magician. Aside from sweet, old Jasper, Cumbies has also played Doctor Who, the epitome of English enchantment, and Doctor Strange, the epitome of American enchantment. He’s also played Sherlock Holmes, who’s not technically a practician of the dark arts, but his superior intellect pits him on par with fellow magicians. And that, my friends, marks the last time I’ll delve into the semantics of magic on this site – at least until this movie comes out.

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