[instant win] A slight trick of the mind

While fans are eagerly awaiting the return of BBC’s excellent drama series Sherlock, it appears that another equally exciting iteration of the Arthur Conan Doyle character is in the works and it involves Sherlock star Martin Freeman’s The Hobbit co-star Ian McKellen. It was announced today that McKellen will play a retired Sherlock Holmes in Kinsey and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon’s A Slight Trick of the Mind. The film’s story takes place in 1947 and finds Holmes living in a sleepy Sussex village with his housekeeper and her amateur-sleuthing son. The legendary detective is haunted by an unsolved case from fifty years ago, and sets out to solve it once and for all without his dear Watson at his side. Hit the jump for more.

ian-mckellen-sherlock-holmesA Slight Trick of the Mind is based on the novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin and boasts a screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Duchess). The film marks a reunion for Condon and McKellen, as the two previously worked together on the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, which netted Oscar nods for both and a win for Condon for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Production on A Slight Trick of the Mind is expected to begin in April in the UK with an eye towards a 2014 release, with Anne Carey (The American) onboard to produce. Condon’s latest film, the WikiLeaks drama The Fifth Estate, is making its world premiere later tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival. Read the full press release below: