Guy Ritchie on Sherlock's case

New take to 'reinvent' Holmes and Watson

By DAVE MCNARY

Ritchie

Guy Ritchie has come aboard to direct Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes" for Lionel Wigram and Dan Lin.

Ritchie's also working on a rewrite/polish of Tony Peckham's script, based on Wigram's upcoming comicbook "Sherlock Holmes." Studio's eying a 2010 release.

The logline remains under wraps, but execs at Warners are aiming to reinvent Holmes and sidekick Dr. John H. Watson. Wigram's noted that the new Holmes would be more adventuresome and take advantage of his skills as a boxer and swordsman (Daily Variety, March 16, 2007).

Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about Holmes, written in the late 19th century, emphasized the detective's intellectual brilliance and power of deductive reasoning. The pipe-smoking character has been portrayed in more than 200 film and TV shows.

Lin and Wigram are both former Warner creative execs who have first-look deals at the studio. Wigram worked on the "Harry Potter" pics while at Warner while Lin worked on "The Aviator" and "The Departed."

Ritchie is directing "RocknRolla," for which he also wrote the screenplay, for Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment. Pic will be distribbed by Warner Bros.