U.S. Theatrical Release Planned for BBC’s Sherlock Special

NEW YORK: Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, a special episode of the hit BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, is slated to screen in select theaters across the U.S. on January 5.

The feature-length cinema screening will be shown in 500 theaters, with an encore scheduled for January 6. It will feature 20 minutes of exclusive footage, including a making-of short film starring Cumberbatch and Freeman. The screenings are a result of a partnership between BBC Worldwide North America and Fathom Events.

Sherlock is produced by Hartswood Films for BBC One and co-produced by Masterpiece. The show’s special chapter will be broadcast on PBS stations in the U.S. on January 1, the same day as the U.K.’s telecast.

“Sherlock on the big screen: for us, it’s a giant leap backwards—into Victorian London,” said co-writer Steven Moffat. “The mean streets of 1895 have never looked so good.”

“It’s not suddenly going to be a different show,” added co-writer Mark Gatiss. “It’s essentially our Sherlock as if we’d always done it set in 1895. It has the same sensibility. The language is obviously slightly different but we wanted it to feel as funny and as vivid as our modern-day one. Otherwise it would be a sort of dusty period piece which is not what we are interested in.”