Columbia Pictures has set an untitled comedy that will star Sacha Baron Cohen as master detective Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as Watson, his crime-solving partner. The comedy is inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales. Though the thrust is different, the Baron Cohen-Ferrell pairing is the second major studio project featuring the supersleuth, as Warner Bros. is prepping the Anthony Peckham-scripted drama “Sherlock Holmes” with director Guy Ritchie.
Borat and Ferrell? shoot me now, please! Not since Jackie Chan did a remake of Jules Verne’s Around the world in 80 days has such an abomination been brought to the screen.
Having gotten the bad news out of the way though, the Guy Ritchie version might be very interesting, if they get the tone right.