Deadline is reporting that Benedict Cumberbatch (Avengers: Endgame) and Elisabeth Moss (Us) are set to star in an adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel The Power of the Dog, which is being directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jane Campion (The Piano, The Portrait of a Lady).
The film will see Cumberbatch playing Phil Burbank, who along with his brother George are the joint owners of a Montana ranch “where men are still men, the rapidly modernizing 20th century is kept at bay and where the figure of Bronco Henry, the greatest cowboy Phil ever knew, is revered. When George secretly marries local widow Rose (Moss), a shocked and angry Phil wages a sadistic, relentless war to destroy her entirely using her effeminate son Peter as a pawn.”
The project reunites Campion with Moss, who won an Emmy for her role in Campion’s acclaimed limited series Top of the Lake.
The Power of the Dog is being produced by BBC Films, Brightstar and See-Saw Films, and will be presented to buyers at this months Cannes Film Festival.