Elementary, my dear Bilbo. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the titular character of Masterpiece Theater's Sherlock Holmes reboot, has been cast as the voice of Smaug in
The Hobbit film adaptation. This continues the trend of literary adaptations for Cumberbatch, having just earned raves for his role in Danny Boyle's stage adaptation of
Frankenstein and his work opposite Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy in the upcoming film
Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy.
Will someone PLEASE photoshop a giant pipe in his hand?Cumberbatch will play the role the using motion capture technology which means Smaug's facial expressions, and possibly body movement, will be under more of the actor's control than in traditional animation methods. This is exciting news for anyone who has seen
Sherlock (available on Netflix streaming at the moment) because Cumberbatch is absolutely phenomenal as the infamous detective.
After years of chasing the dragon it looks like Sherlock finally caught it (lit geeks should appreciate that one, everyone else just ignore it).
Source:
Deadline