DreamWorks Animation has set Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich to voice new characters in its spin-off The Penguins of Madagascar, according to a report by The Wrap.

The animated movie, which features the penguins from DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar franchise, is scheduled for release on March 27, 2015.

The Wrap reports that Malkovich will voice the film's “charming villain,” while Cumberbatch will voice a high-ranking animal CIA agent hot on his trail.

Simon J. Smith (Bee Movie) and Eric Darnell (Antz) are directing from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud. Lara Breay (Megamind) is producing, while executive producers include Mireille Soria, Tom McGrath and Darnell, all of whom are responsible for the original Madagascar trilogy.

The Penguins of Madagascar has already spawned a successful Nickelodeon TV show, a straight-to-DVD movie and a comic book written by David Server and Jackson Lanzing.

Cumberbatch will also be heard as the voice of both Smaug the Dragon and the Necromancer in Peter Jackson's Hobbit sequels. Malkovich previously voiced a role in Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf.