Cinematical

Now this is a combination I would have never seen coming. Variety reports that Guy Ritchie will be helming Sherlock Holmes for Warner Bros. Yes, you heard that right. The iconic detective and his deerstalker cap are making a comeback -- and Ritchie is the man chosen to make it happen. It's nice to see him branching out ... I think.

The movie will be based not on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels, which I find no end of shocking, but on the Lionel Wigram's upcoming comic book. Ritchie is currently rewriting the script, previously written by Tony Peckham. The movie is being slated for a 2010 release.

The details are being kept under tight wraps, so I can only venture a guess that it will remain in foggy Victorian England. On the other hand, Warners says they are aiming to "reinvent" Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, and focus on making him more "adventuresome." They will focus on his skills as a boxer and swordsman -- which, again, suggests a Victorian Holmes, but plenty of modern characters find excuses to break out a blade.





As an Anglophile, I am dying to see Holmes come back -- but I'm rather skeptical of a reinvention. It seems like he's been off the pop culture radar long enough for a traditional comeback to be very successful. Especially if it followed on the heels of The Wolfman remake, which I predict will inspire a renaissance of Gothic horror. But then again, I'm a nerd who likes costume pieces, and engages in wishful thinking. For some reason, I'm getting a Van Helsing vibe from all this vague reinvention talk, and I can't really explain why. I'm going to hope for the best, though. One of my very first sights in London was Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes statue. When I went out to the country, I somehow managed to land near Hindhead, Doyle's old neighborhood. After doing a late night pub crawl, clutching my friend because I couldn't see for the dark and fog, I really understood where The Hound of the Baskervilles came from. So the mere idea of a movie conjures up all kinds of excitement for me. Please let this be good!