Benedict Cumberbatch Is Hamlet In Upcoming Theatre Play

Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing another classic character. The “Sherlock” star is set to play “Hamlet” at the Barbican Theatre in London in 2015.

The Daily Mail reported that the 37-year-old English actor has signed on to play the title character of the Shakespeare tragedy.

The play was originally expected to run in 2014, but due to lack of appropriate venues and Cumberbatch and director Lyndsey Turner’s fully-packed schedules for the year, it has been moved to 2015.

“I can confirm that we are in final negotiations with the Barbican,” producer Sonia Friedman told the paper when asked about the play. She declined to comment further.

Cumberbatch has reportedly cleared his schedule for the play, though, allowing him to commit to the play, which will run for 12 weeks and requires at least six weeks of preparation and rehearsal.

The actor has had a busy 2013, starring in six films, such as the blockbusters “Star Trek Into Dark,” “The Fifth Estate, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “August: Osage County,” and “12 Years a Slave.”

He will be seen next in the historical drama “The Imitation Game,” in which he plays wartime cryptographer Alan Turing.

Cumberbatch, whose critically acclaimed series “Sherlock” is currently on hiatus in between seasons, is not a stranger to theatre plays. He also has prolific theatre acting roles, including as the title character and his creature in “Frankenstein,” which premiered at the Royal National Theatre in February 2011.

He won Best Actor for that role from the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and Laurence Olivier Awards.