Robert Downey Jr. is "Sherlock Holmes"

[auntiehill]

Wow, what a looming train wreck.

Sherlock Holmes isn't a story that anyone needs to adapt anymore. Just get the episodes with Jeremy Brett on DVD.

Quoted for truth.

God Almighty. Not just a looming train wreck, but an impending, massive disaster that will a huge, smoldering blackened hole in the ground.

 

[S. Gomez]

I hope Hollywood doesn't think Downey is the go-to guy on heroes with addiction issues, just because he had his own in the past. First Tony Stark, who's an alcoholic, and now Holmes, who frequently injected a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine.

I'm not that well versed on Holmes so that is interesting to me.
Now I may be wrong but cocaine didn't have the stigma in Homes setting as it does today, right? So I would hope then if its an element Guy Ritchie uses that he doesn't play it up as a bad taboo.

"Frequently" is probably the wrong term to use; I think it's mentioned something like four or five times in all sixty stories. And Holmes only used it to stave off boredom when he didn't have any detective work going. That being said, Watson sure didn't seem to like it, as he records his distaste for the practice and his attempt to wean Holmes off the drug.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I'm not that well versed on Holmes so that is interesting to me.
Now I may be wrong but cocaine didn't have the stigma in Homes setting as it does today, right?

Watson referred to it as "Holmes' only vice", but it was certainly nowhere near as unacceptable as it is today.

Wow, what a looming train wreck.

Sherlock Holmes isn't a story that anyone needs to adapt anymore. Just get the episodes with Jeremy Brett on DVD.

Quoted for truth.

What exactly is the issue with wanting new material? There are only so many times one needs to see an adaptation of The Sign of Four.

 

[Captain Craig]

Awesome!

Richie's drama -- which takes elements from the classic novel series as well as the comic books -- is set to begin filming before a competing project of the same name, this one set up at Columbia Pictures, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as the titular character and Will Ferrell as Watson.

Wow, what a looming train wreck.

Sherlock Holmes isn't a story that anyone needs to adapt anymore. Just get the episodes with Jeremy Brett on DVD.

I'm sure some feel the same way about Dracula, Robin Hood and Zorro yet they still get made and *gasp* audiences show up. I'm willing to try it as its been awhile for a big screen Holmes.

I'm not that well versed on Holmes so that is interesting to me.
Now I may be wrong but cocaine didn't have the stigma in Homes setting as it does today, right?

Watson referred to it as "Holmes' only vice", but it was certainly nowhere near as unacceptable as it is today.

Cool. Used it only 4-5 times in all the 60-ish stories.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I love RDJ, but I really can't see him as Holmes. Even if he gets the accent right (IIRC, he did a good English accent for Chaplin), he just doesn't look like Sherlock Holmes. You know, sort of hawk-faced, stern and tall. In the vein of Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone etc.

RDJ is admittedly one of the greatest actors alive, so I shouldn't really complain about him being cast in any role! But personally, I'd have preferred to see Alan Rickman, Christopher Ecclestone or the like in the role. Even Hugh Jackman has more of the Holmes look, if they wanted to go younger.

As for the SBC/ Ferrell take, well, it's not the first time Holmes has been sent up. There's the Michael Caine/ Ben Kingsley movie Without a Clue, for instance. I think there's room for two different takes on the character.

 

[Dream]

I hope Hollywood doesn't think Downey is the go-to guy on heroes with addiction issues, just because he had his own in the past. First Tony Stark, who's an alcoholic, and now Holmes, who frequently injected a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine.

RDJ will be acting as a black man in an R rated comedy, a columnist in a "serious" movie, and be in a movie called Cowboys Vs Aliens between his Stark and Sherlock Holmes roles. The man certainly isn't picking one type of role for himself.

 

[Biggshow]

I love RDJ, but I really can't see him as Holmes. Even if he gets the accent right (IIRC, he did a good English accent for Chaplin), he just doesn't look like Sherlock Holmes. You know, sort of hawk-faced, stern and tall. In the vein of Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone etc.

RDJ is admittedly one of the greatest actors alive, so I shouldn't really complain about him being cast in any role! But personally, I'd have preferred to see Alan Rickman, Christopher Ecclestone or the like in the role. Even Hugh Jackman has more of the Holmes look, if they wanted to go younger.

This is basically my take on the thing. There are a number of really good Holmes pastiches out there that have yet to be filmed. My problem is that Downey just doesn't seem Holmesian to me. I know Rupert Everett has done a couple of TV movies as Holmes but I've recently thought he and Colin Firth would make an excellent big screen Holmes and Watson.

Meh. Hollywood.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

What exactly is the issue with wanting new material? There are only so many times one needs to see an adaptation of The Sign of Four.

For myself, I want to see a version of The Speckled Band with the famous pivotal scene of the speckled band's encounter with Julia Stoner filmed the right
way.

 

[Kegek]

I love RDJ, but I really can't see him as Holmes. Even if he gets the accent right (IIRC, he did a good English accent for Chaplin), he just doesn't look like Sherlock Holmes. You know, sort of hawk-faced, stern and tall. In the vein of Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone etc.

Words; mouth.

Does Downey Jr. better fit the description of the comic book Holmes?


As for the other version, I've never seen a film with Will Ferrell (heard of him) and don't like Sacha Baron Cohen's antics. I only liked him in Sweeney Todd, where he was reigned in and managed to be surprisingly funny for once.

 

[Trekker4747]

They should have gotten Hugh Laurie to play Holmes.

My thoughts exactly. He'd be a far better fit. But he's have to use his American accent and walk siffly with a cane and have a sardonic wit.

 

[M'Sharak]

I love RDJ, but I really can't see him as Holmes. Even if he gets the accent right (IIRC, he did a good English accent for Chaplin), he just doesn't look like Sherlock Holmes. You know, sort of hawk-faced, stern and tall. In the vein of Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone etc.

Oddly, though, no one ever seems to worry whether a filmmaker bothered to try to get Watson's appearance right, let alone his age and character. I can see your point, but I'd rather the look differ somewhat from the description in the Doyle stories and get the personality right than vice versa.

I think Downey might well be a good choice. In fact, I'm not so sure that Cohen is a bad choice at all for the other version, but I'll go along with those above who cringe at the thought of Will Ferrell as Watson.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I hope Hollywood doesn't think Downey is the go-to guy on heroes with addiction issues, just because he had his own in the past. First Tony Stark, who's an alcoholic, and now Holmes, who frequently injected a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine.

I'm not that well versed on Holmes so that is interesting to me.
Now I may be wrong but cocaine didn't have the stigma in Homes setting as it does today, right? So I would hope then if its an element Guy Ritchie uses that he doesn't play it up as a bad taboo.

"Frequently" is probably the wrong term to use; I think it's mentioned something like four or five times in all sixty stories. And Holmes only used it to stave off boredom when he didn't have any detective work going. That being said, Watson sure didn't seem to like it, as he records his distaste for the practice and his attempt to wean Holmes off the drug.

For a really good story about Sherlock Holmes and cocaine, read "The Seven Percent Solution" by Nicholas Meyer (the writer/director of Star Trek II & Star Trek VI).

I've been working on my own treatment for a Sherlock Holmes movie off & on lately. My intention was to structure the movie very similar to the beginning of "A Study in Scarlet" and focus a lot more on Watson. I see Watson as this hotshot army surgeon playboy (kinda like Hawkeye on M*A*S*H) who is thrown into severe depression after he is wounded in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Holmes is a brilliant mind with absolutely zero social skills. Bad finances forces these polar opposites to share an apartment together and they nearly tear each other apart in the process. It's only through the excitement of Holmes' cases that Watson regains a sense of purpose. Holmes realizes that Watson is the closest thing he's ever had to a friend. I've got the emotional arcs planned out. I just need a good mystery to flesh it out.

I pictured David Tennant as Sherlock Holmes & Jack Davenport as Dr. Watson. But I suppose I could see Downey Jr. as Holmes. I would just like to see someone get Watson right, since he is probably the most consistently botched character in the history of Hollywood literary adaptations.

 

[TGTheodore]

The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle is VERY particular with the rights to the Holmes characters.

I was amazed rights were granted to what I consider the only decent comedy made from the characters, Without a Clue with Ben Kingsley as the actual brains, Watson, who hires a drunken actor, Michael Caine, to play Holmes for the public's benefit. Excellent movie.

--Ted

 

[Samurai8472]

Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes? What, is Holmes going to carry .45s, and Watson be a bruiser who beats the hell out of people?

Sherlock will be smoking his cigarette while cursing all the way to back to his hatchback as he gets the sawed off shotgun

Sherlock stock and two smoking barrels

Funny coincidence seeing as the house thread is under this one but Huge Laurie would be great for Sherlock holmes

Or Johnny Depp with Ray Winstone directed by Tim Burton with gothic Sweeny Todd England.

My thoughts exactly. He'd be a far better fit. But he's have to use his American accent and walk siffly with a cane and have a sardonic wit.

And Holmes will frequently walk around the hallways of a hospital and strum his guitar while Watson taunts him with pieces of his old guitar

 

[Jax]

Any Sherlock Holmes movie would struggle in the American market but Downey JR is becoming hot stuff in hollywood...I will always love him in KISS KISS BANG BANG, which is one of my favourite movies of all time.

 

[Holdfast]

The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle is VERY particular with the rights to the Holmes characters.

I was amazed rights were granted to what I consider the only decent comedy made from the characters, Without a Clue with Ben Kingsley as the actual brains, Watson, who hires a drunken actor, Michael Caine, to play Holmes for the public's benefit. Excellent movie.

--Ted

There was a rather odd comedy with Holmes being cryogenically frozen or something and thus being resurrected in the present day, which was surprisingly watchable. It felt like a bit like a pilot to a series, but I don't know if it was ever made. Can't remember the name though.

 

[S. Gomez]

^I know there was an animated show built around the same premise, except he was revived in the 22nd century. Appropriately titled Sherlock Holmes In The 22nd Century.

ETA: Funny to hear about the Conan Doyle estate and rights issues; there are so many parodies and pastiches that I had thought the rights had lapsed or something.

 

[Holdfast]

^ I just did a little light googling and found two possible IMDB links for the show I was thinking about. Apparently they filmed basically the same script twice. Both as failed pilots. I think I saw the 1993 version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108117/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093850/

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm sure some feel the same way about Dracula, Robin Hood and Zorro

I actually do feel the same about those. Some stories just get beat into the ground. What's wrong with seeing something new instead? Hollywood does nothing but copy old stuff anymore.

Although Zorro isn't really beat into the ground so much as it wasn't all that interesting to begin with.

And just for the record: stop adapting Arthurian legend too. Thank you.

Yknow what we haven't seen much of lately? A serious attempt at the film noir detective. Downey would be very well suited to fill the shoes of Humphrey Bogart. Much more natural fit than Holmes.

 

[ancient]

Jeremy Brett is by far the best Holmes, imo. I know there were people before & after him, but he was the best suited to the role.

But if they want to make a Sherlock Holmes version #9000, whatever. I guess they got nothing better to do.