Stephen Fry joins Downey Jr. In Sherlock Holmes 2
- 27 September 2010
- John Howell
Director Guy Ritchie's sequel to his surprisingly good 2009 Sherlock Holmes adaptation starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law will now feature the UK comic actor/writer (and gadget enthusiast) Stephen Fry. Fry is set to play Sherlock Holmes' older brother Mycroft. In the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes novels, Mycroft's deductive powers exceed those of his younger brother, but he is incapable of performing detective work as he is too lazy to bring cases to their conclusions. Doyle described him as having "no ambition and no energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right". However, he is also described as playing a key role in the British government: "The conclusions of every department are passed to him, and he is the central exchange, the clearinghouse, which makes out the balance. All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience." Holmes also reveals that "Occasionally he is the British Government".
As a big fan of Stephen Fry, this gives me yet another reason to be waiting for the sequel. According to the Internet Movie Database, in the sequel "Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty." Back in April there was also a rumour that Brad Pitt was a strong possibility to play the role of Moriaty, but I haven't heard anything on that one since. If this did come to pass, it would certainly give Ritchie an impressive pool of acting talent to play with - Fry, Downey, Law and Pitt all in one movie!
Sherlock Holmes 2 (if that's what they call it) is scheduled to be released December 16, 2011.
In other Sherlock Holmes news, it appears that the BBC's modern day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, the TV crime drama Sherlock, will get a second season. The BBC has confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson, will return for three new episodes in 2011. Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the TV adaptation also stars Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade. The first season attracted around nine million viewers in the UK and ended with a tantalising cliff hanger. If they hadn't continued, it would have been pretty annoying! Creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have promised "baffling new puzzles, old friends and new enemies" in season 2.
It appears that if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, quality adaptations are just around the corner.
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