Ian McKellen To Play Retired Sherlock Holmes In Bill Condon Movie

British actor Ian McKellen (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Wolverine) will play famed detective Sherlock Holmes in a new film from Bill Condon (Gods And Monsters, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Parts 1 and 2).

The Oscar winning director is making A Slight Trick Of The Mind, starring McKellen as a retired Sherlock, sans his cheeky partner Watson, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the movie, the long-retired detective is haunted by an unsolved crime from 50 years ago, of which he only recalls bits and pieces. Only armed with his legendary analytical mind, he is set to solve the mystery in what will become the most challenging case of his career.

Based on the novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, A Slight Trick Of The Mind’s screenplay is written by Jeffrey Hatcher.

Condon and McKellen collaborated together in the Academy Award winning film Gods And Monsters which won for Best Screenplay and was written and directed by Condon.

Ian McKellen, the 74-year-old cinematic legend is one of the most prolific and respected members of the movie industry, not only in the UK, but around the world.

He has been making television and movies since the 1960s, when he starred in the TV series, The Indian Tales Of Rudyard Kipling.

One of the producers, Anne Carey is excited about the movie,

“Mitch Cullin’s elegiac novel is not so much about solving a mystery, as it is about accepting life’s mysteries. I could not be more excited about the talent who have come together to make this film a reality.”

Bill Condon is at the Toronto Film Festival promoting his new movie The Fifth Estate, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

AI Film, which is the production arm of Icon, will finance and co-produce along with Carey and Christine Langan.

There is no word on a release date for Ian McKellen’s A Slight Trick Of The Mind yet.