Guy Ritchie's mined the criminal underbelly for some time now, with all his tales of less-than-diamond geezers wheelin' and dealin' around the East End. But he's looking now to the, er, sleuthing overbelly with the news that he is to direct a new Sherlock Holmes for Warners.
The details of the project are being kept under wraps for now, but it's set to be based on Lionel Wigram's upcoming comic book "reinvention" of Arthur Conan-Doyle's detective, and there is some suggestion that we'll see a more action-oriented Holmes than previously. Wigram's on record as noting that more advantage should be taken of Holmes' experience as a boxer and swordsman, along with his impressive deductive reasoning. So more Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes (a rather ballsier film than it sounds - check it out if you never did) than the traditional BBC Sunday night version.
The studio's hoping for a 2010 release, but in the meantime if you need a Ritchie fix you can check out RocknRolla, out here in September.