Benedict Cumberbatch, also known as one of the few men I would I stare at without being able to say a single word if we met in real life, has begun negotiating a role in the upcoming film, The Lost City of Z. The film is the big screen adaptation of the novel by David Grann. The project is being directed and written by James Gray who is most known for working on We Own The Night. 

The nonfiction book, a New York Times best seller, was published in 2009 and is officially described as follows:

In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization—which he dubbed “Z”—existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.

Cumberbatch is looking to play the role of Fawcett in the project. He is most known for his role in the BBC series, “Sherlock,” as well as starring in the film Star Trek Into Darkness. You can see him next in the WikiLeaks thriller The Fifth Estate and as the title antagonist in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He’s also slated to play Alan Turing in Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game.

Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner and Brad Pitt will produce The Lost City of Z through Plan B. There is no word on a projected release date.