Guy Ritchie's reinvention of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, isn't released until Christmas, but Warner's are apparently confident enough of a hit that a sequel is already underway. Now with added Brad Pitt.
There have been rumours for a while that Pitt had been brought in to play Holmes' nefarious nemesis, Professor Moriarty, during additional shooting for the knockabout blockbuster, but while those rumours remain unconfirmed, it would appear that he is in talks to play the part in the sequel.
In fact, some insiders are telling The Hollywood Reporter that, if Moriarty does appear in Sherlock Holmes, that he's bathed in shadow and unrecognisable. But it makes sense for Warner Bros., Ritchie and producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey to build up to Moriarty in this way, a la Bond's Blofeld. And snagging Pitt to play him will be a major coup.
Of course, prepping a sequel before the first movie has even come out can be a risky game, and if Holmes were by some miracle to tank at the box office we're sure we'd hear no more about part 2. But in the meantime, Kieran and Michele Mulroney, the husband and wife team who wrote** Paper Man** and also worked on Warners' back-burnered Justice League project, are writing a screenplay which, apparently like the original, may or may not have anything to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s vision.
Fast-tracking a sequel is now an elementary time-and-money-saving practice: the same thing happened with Warner’s The Hangover. It helps with the whole fast-tracking, green-lighting business. It's also worth pointing out that Holmes part 1 has had an army of scriptwriters, so the Mulroneys' draft could well end up going through several pairs of hands before it's brought to life.
**
Sherlock Holmes** hits cinemas on December 26th.