MUMBAI: Benedict Cumberbatch has exited Crimson Peak, the Legendary screamer being directed by Guillermo del Toro.

The reason for his departure is unknown, although sources claim his exit is not due to another project.

Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska remain on board to star in the four-hander gothic horror story that centers on a woman who discovers that her husband might not be who he appears to be.

Peak is scheduled to shoot in January, and the exit at this early stage gives del Toro plenty of time to find a replacement. The filmmaker has already shown he can roll with the punches when he quickly cast Wasikowska after Emma Stone fell off the movie.

Cumberbatch is entering a busy period where many of his completed films will hit screens. Dreamworks‘ The Fifth Estate kicks off the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Fox Searchlight‘s 12 Years a Slave opens on 18 October, while the all-star August: Osage Countyopens this Christmas.

He is also voicing the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and is in preproduction on The Imitation Game, in which he will portray gay cryptographer Alan Turing.