Mr Holmes' new cast revealed as shoot begins

As principal photography begins on a new Sherlock Holmes film starring Ian McKellen, the cast has been revealed as well as a change of name and a first image.

A Slight Trick of the Mind will now be titled Mr Holmes and filming will take place over seven weeks on location in London and on the South Coast of England, according to co-producers AI Film, Archer Gray, See-Saw Films and BBC Films.

McKellen himself tweeted the first image, which shows the actor made up and aged up to play Arthur Conan Doyle’s private detective aged 93.

As previously announced, Bill Condon will direct the film - reuniting him with McKellen after they made Gods and Monsters together in 1998 - and Laura Linney will play his housekeeper Mrs Munro. Linney worked with Condon on Kinsey in 2004 and The Fifth Estate in 2013 as well as the pilot of her series The Big C.

New additions to the cast include Hattie Morahan (The Golden Compass), Patrick Kennedy (War Horse), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine), Roger Allam (Tamara Drewe), Phil Davis (Vera Drake), Frances de la Tour (The History Boys) and Milo Parker (Ghosthunters: On Icy Trails) who plays Mrs Munro’s son.

Mr Holmes is set in 1947. An ageing Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where, in search of a rare plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare.

Now, in his remote seaside farmhouse, Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger.

Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the unsolved case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love - before it’s too late.

Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, Mr Holmes has been adapted for the screen by Jeffrey Hatcher, whose credits include The Duchess, Casanova and Stage Beauty.

McKellen said: “Sherlock Holmes at 93 is retired, still solving mysteries: but here’s the sting - he also keeps bees. So many splendid actors have already played the part but none of them had Bill Condon directing. I’m the lucky one: and I’m excited.”

Mr Holmes will be produced by Anne Carey, producer of Anton Corbijn’s The American, through her Archer Gray outfit along with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films, producers of the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech, with Aviv Giladi, CEO of AI Film, and Len Blavatnik exec producing.

Christine Langan, head of BBC Films, is an exec producer on behalf of BBC Films, which is also co-financing, as is Amy Nauiokas of Archer Gray.

FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales.