After starting his career with a resounding bang; that came in the form of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch; and then hitting a bit of a slump with his following films (the best of which was RocknRolla, and the worst of which was the awful Revolver), director Guy Ritchie thankfully managed to pull it back in a big way, and release the very successful Sherlock Holmes, which has left every film fan waiting to hear news of the sequel, since it’s release last Christmas.
The official release date for the sequel was given around a month ago, but now Alfie’s Jude Law (who plays Dr. Watson in the series) has confirmed that filming on the second movie will begin later this year, as he’s got three films lined up to shoot back to back; he’ll be beginning by starring in the Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) children’s picture Hugo Cabret, “then comes Sherlock Holmes 2, followed by Steven Soderbergh’s (Ocean’s 11) Contagion; an ensemble piece about the spread of a H1N1 (swine-flu) type disease on an international scale.”
What that means is that not only will we soon be seeing a good deal more of Jude on the big screen, but that shooting on Sherlock 2 is due to start in only a few months, and while Jude doesn’t know who will be replacing Mark Strong (Robin Hood) as the film’s villain, he did confirm that Guy Ritchie and his team of writers have very close to having a completed script, and should soon have some intriguing casting announcements.
As far as the story itself goes, that’s still under wraps, and a good deal of it will stay that way until its finally released, but there’s no shortage of Sherlock novels that it could originate from; making it an all but endless possibility. What is certain however, is that not only will Jude Law be back as Dr. Watson, and Guy Ritchie will once again direct his slick version of Victorian London, but that Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2) will once again be donning the bowler and magnifying glass, in order to play the eccentric sleuth himself; ahead of a December 2011 release date that puts it in direct competition with Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D, Mission Impossible IV, and the 3D Tintin movie; and that there will be an appearance from, or heavy allusions to the character of Moriarty (Holmes’ archenemy, and somone who’s referred to as the ‘Napoleon of Crime’).
