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Benedict Cumberbatch has become the latest star to join Steve McQueen's upcoming film Twelve Years A Slave.
The Sherlock star joins Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the big-screen adaptation of Solomon Northup's 1853 autobiography, which has been co-written by director Steve and John Ridley, reports Variety.
Chiwetel stars as the author, a married man from New York who was tricked and sold into slavery for 12 years.
Benedict will play a plantation owner who buys Northup and is won over by his engineering skills.
There Will Be Blood's Paul Dano has been cast as a brutal slave owner, Misfits star Ruth Negga will play a runaway slave and Monsters actor Scoot McNairy - who stars in Killing Them Softly alongside Brad Pitt - is to play a circus employee.
Northup finally earned back his freedom when a white Canadian carpenter smuggled letters to his wife, which helped launch a court case that eventually set him free.
Filming starts in June for a potential 2013 release, and the film is being produced by Brad Pitt's company Plan B.
