And the Judd Apatow comedy juggernaut keeps rolling along. This time, Apatow will be producing a comedic take on the classic English detective Sherlock Holmes, with Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes and Will Farrell as sidekick Watson.
This makes the second Holmes project currently in development. Director Guy Ritchie is currently developing his own, presumably more serious in tone, film based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic, and now public domain, character. Robert Downey Jr. is reportedly interested in appearing in Ritchie’s version.
A comedic version of Holmes has been done before in 1988’s Without A Clue, which reversed the roles of Holmes and Watson, making Watson (Ben Kingsley) the brilliant detective who gave credit to a bumbling Holmes (Michael Caine). There’s no word yet as to what comedy hook that screenwriter Etan Cohen is going to hang the film on.
Via Variety.