Third Sherlock Holmes Movie Loses Screenwriter
Report From Hedge
I had dinner last night with Dan Lin, CEO of Lin Pictures (at Warner Bros.) and executive producer of the Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jr. “Sherlock Holmes” movies, and found out some very interesting updates on where they are with “Sherlock Holmes 3.”
The project is very much moving forward, and everyone involved is very committed to it and excited by it. One BIG piece of news – and I don’t think this has been announced anywhere yet, so BSB gets the scoop! — is that screenwriter Drew Pearce (“Iron Man 3”) isoff the project (he’s trapped in rewrites and preparations for “Mission Impossible 5”). And while I’m sorry to see Drew go (I had a great conversation with him at the L.A. Film Festival earlier this year, and he PROMISED me that his SH3 script would delve into the repercussions of Reichenbach…), I’m very excited about the new writer. He is Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”).
Now, I almost had a heart palpitation at first when Dan told me this, to be perfectly honest, because Haythe’s last screenwriting project was a little art film called…”The Lone Ranger.” Eek. But — there he had the unenviable task of emergency-rewriting Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott’s original (and messy) script, and then dealing with changes by Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp. “Lone Ranger” was a troubled production to its core, and Haythe (while removing the werewolf coyotes and other dumb stuff) had an essentially thankless job on that one.
British-born Haythe is actually a redoubtable writer — his excellent “Revolutionary Road” script, based on the Richard Yates novel, starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and was nominated for a USC Scripter Award and a BAFTA Award. He also wrote the screenplay for the thriller “The Clearing,” starring Robert Redford and Helen Mirren. And his debut novel “The Honeymoon” was nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize (go read the reviews on Amazon — I’m ordering it as we speak…!).
So I think we have very good things to look forward to, and I’m going to try to track down Justin for an interview soon.
Dan said the biggest challenge for the SH3 team is how to up the ante and take the characters on a new journey that illuminates new facets of who they are, and also what to do for a villain now that Moriarty is gone — but they have some ideas percolating.
Dan shared some interesting and funny stories from the making of the “Sherlock Holmes” movies (some of which I’m saving for a project I have in the works, which I hope I can announce soon). Here’s one, though: when they were casting the first Sherlock Holmes movie, they actually had difficulty finding a Watson because no leading man wanted to share the screen with RDJ, fearing they’d be de facto second banana (or, perhaps, that he’d blow them off the screen). Even RDJ’s buddy Colin Farrell, a consummate scene-stealer in his own right, read for the part and decided he didn’t want to be second chair to Robert.
Dan said that when Jude Law came in, his first solo read was a bit off-putting and left everyone rather cold. But as soon as Jude was paired with Robert, they went off into a room to practice their lines together…and when they came out, they were laughing and joking around, and the chemistry between them was so easy and evident that everyone knew they’d found the right Watson!
That’s all the news for now – as always, on the hunt for more…
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Thank you Hedge, for the scoop!
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