Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the cast of Twelve Years a Slave.
The Sherlock actor will star alongside Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt in the movie which tells the real-life story of Solomon Northup, a slave living in freedom in New York in the 1850s who is enticed to go on a trip to Washington only to end up being kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Benedict is set to play the plantation owner who buys Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and is won over by his engineering skills.
Steve McQueen will direct the movie based on a script adapted from Northup’s autobiography by British filmmakers Steve and John Ridley.
