Benedict Cumberbatch to Replace Tom Hardy in EVEREST?

Director Doug Liman is looking to start production on his mountain climbing adventure drama, Everest. Tom Hardy was set to play the lead in the film but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. 

The director and Sony Pictures are now looking to recast the lead role of George Mallory, the famous British mountaineer who in the 1920s tried three times to become the first man to scale the world’s highest mountain. 

At the top of the list is Benedict Cumberbatch, but there are other actors in the mix to play Mallory and his Australian rival, George Finch. Those actors include Joel Kinnaman, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, Luke Evans, Dan Stevens, Matthew Goode, and Jim Sturgess.

The movie is an adaptation of the book Paths Of Glory, Everest, written by Jeffrey Archer. It was adapted by Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air). Liman recently directed the sci-fi action film All You Need is Kill with Tom Cruise.

Cumberbatch recently starred in the box office bomb The Fifth Estate. It's not his fault the movie bombed, though--the movie was just a bad idea. A movie like Everest would be a great project for him to take on, and out of all of the actors up for the role, I really hope he ends up in it. The guy has a very powerful on screen presence.