Benedict Cumberbatch joins 'Gypsy Boy'

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been roped in to feature in the upcoming film "Gypsy Boy", based on Mikey Walsh's best-selling memoir by the same name.

Morgan Matthews will be directing the film, with producers Dee Koppang O'Leary and Kevin Loader working on the production, which is currently slated for a summer 2018 release, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Cumberbatch will play Walsh's father Frank in the movie. The character is a man who places a golden pair of gloves on a chain around the neck of his son, in the hopes that he will be able to maintain the family's fighting reputation.

As an infant, however, Walsh is already displaying noticeable differences to his relatives, which leads to frustration and anger for his father.

"I was immediately drawn to Mikey's courageous and heart-breaking story. And his father Frank is unlike any character I've played before. He's a complex man torn between tradition and his love for a son struggling to come to terms with an identity that's completely at odds with Frank and his culture. It's a tension that threatens to tear everyone in their family and that community apart," said Cumberbatch.

--IANS

ks/rb