Benedict Cumberbatch’s Horror-Drama Adaptation: Differences from the Book Explained by Star & Director

Benedict Cumberbatch has firmly established himself as one of the foremost actors in contemporary cinema throughout the 2010s. Renowned for his performances in acclaimed films, his notable works include The Imitation Game, The Courier, The Power of the Dog, and the latest Wes Anderson short film, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, released in 2023. Cumberbatch’s talent has not gone unnoticed; he earned nominations for the prestigious Best Actor Oscar for both The Imitation Game and The Power of the Dog.

In 2016, Cumberbatch made his debut as Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a character that has since become a beloved staple of the franchise. To date, he has appeared in six MCU films, with his recent outing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) featuring a variety of horror elements. It’s interesting to note that Cumberbatch isn’t traditionally associated with horror films. However, this could change in 2025 with a lead role in an upcoming project that is set to explore horror themes.

Exploring “The Thing With Feathers”: Insights from Star and Director

Adapting Literature: Changes in “The Thing With Feathers”

Cumberbatch, along with director Dylan Southern, shares insights about their upcoming project, The Thing With Feathers, which is adapted from Max Porter’s 2015 novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. This poignant narrative centers around a father and his two sons grappling with the abrupt loss of their wife and mother. The film is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2025, although a wider release date has yet to be confirmed.

During the festival, Screen Rant’s Grant Hermanns engaged in a conversation with Cumberbatch and Southern about the challenges of adapting the book into a film. While both praised Porter’s work, they acknowledged its complexity, stemming from its unconventional structure that incorporates multiple perspectives. They hinted at some necessary alterations made in the film adaptation. Below are their reflections:

Cumberbatch: “It’s just a startling original novel. It’s just the most formally playful, inventive and kind of unique way of expressing something that’s — I think, in the milieu of middle class, middle-aged Brit, it’s quite locked away sometimes, and Max Porter, the novelist, found this amazing kind of metaphor through Ted Hughes’ poems, and this academic succession with them. He slowly realized in the book that it’s all really about the boys. It’s an unreliable narration; it’s about their memory of what happened to their father and what it felt like being around this man who was obsessed with the crow collection of poems at the time. With our version, Dylan had the master stroke — he’s a big graphic novel fan — of making my character, Dad, an illustrator, an artist who’s bringing out this book inspired by the crow series of poems. So, that’s an immediate extrapolation between that being tactile and realizable on the page to being something in the room.”

Southern: “It was a process, really. The book’s really unusual; it’s written from three different perspectives. It’s a mixture of prose and poetry; it uses different tenses, it spans multiple years. It’s not an obvious translation to a movie story. So, I think it was embracing all those factors and realizing I could take it wherever I wanted to that unlocked it. The support of Max was also invaluable; he didn’t have to option the book to me, but he did. In the end, he was blown away by the first draft and continued to support me. He’s a fantastic collaborator, so it was great to have him on my side.”

Analyzing Cumberbatch & Southern’s Insights on “The Thing With Feathers”

Anticipation for “The Thing With Feathers”

Cumberbatch making a claw gesture in The Thing With Feathers

Given that The Thing With Feathers is based on a critically-acclaimed novel, it brings forth an intriguing storyline coupled with Cumberbatch’s track record of compelling performances. This film has emerged as one of the most anticipated horror entries at Sundance, and fans are eager for a prompt wide release to experience the emotional narrative it promises to deliver.

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