Guy Ritchies Sherlock Holmes (Rumours and Discussion)

By Rappy
in The Media Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted

Mark Strong Reveals Details on Sherlock Holmes Villain

We're still waiting to see a trailer for Sherlock Holmes, so until that shows up, all that we know about it comes from past news articles or interviews. Last year when I interviewed British actor Mark Strong, he mentioned that he was shooting Sherlock Holmes with Guy Ritchie, but didn't say too much about his character. Total Film (the article has since been removed) got to talk to Strong again recently and not only found out more about his character, known as Lord Blackwood, but also about some of the ending moments in the film, which we are of course not going to mention. So instead, let's find out more about this villain.

In Sherlock Holmes, Lord Blackwood is a occult-dabbling Satanist who ends up fighting Holmes.

"There's a touch of Dracula about him," Strong told Total Film. "He needed to have an element of showmanship about him by virtue of the fact that he's trying to persuade everyone around him that he's so in league with the Devil that he's able to conquer death. I just wanted to make him an equal adversary of Sherlock Holmes."

Considering Mark Strong is one of the finest underrated and unknown actors around, I don't think he'll have any problem making him an equal adversary, especially opposite Robert Downey Jr. Strong also admits that Blackwood is somewhat based on the real life Aleister Crowley, a British occultist who wrote The Book of the Law and became known as "The Wickedest Man In the World." I'm not familiar with that reference, but I am looking forward to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes and I'm a big fan of Mark Strong, so I'm excited anyway. I'm sure he'll be one hell of a dark and creepy Holmesian villain and I can't wait to see him big screen.

  • 4 weeks later...
Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted

Trailer was shown to ShoWest

Sometimes, ShoWest does pull out a few unexpected surprises, and while it was always known that Warner Bros. President and COO Alan Horn would be giving the welcome remarks at the State of the Industry Update, he used his time to also give a preview of some of Warner Bros.' upcoming movies, including showing the first footage of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams.

An even bigger surprise was the actual presence of Downey, who took a break from preparing for Iron Man 2 to introduce the footage to the theater owners in the audience. After coming out to applause and being hugged by Horn, Downey Jr. joked that Horn hugs him every time he sees him now though that it wasn't always that way.

Before showing the footage, he told the audience how he came to the project, how after the opening weekend of Iron Man, he was told he probably could do anything he wanted to do "for the next hour and a half," so he went to Joel Silver, who gave Downey his first job 25 years ago (Weird Science), and gave him some ideas what he might be interested in doing. He learned about Guy Ritchie's plans to update Sherlock Holmes. Ritchie thought that Downey was too old for the role, but Downey convinced him and then also convinced him that Rachel McAdams wasn't too young to play his love interest. (He made a joke about using "Benjamin Button"-like CG to minimize their age difference.) Downey claimed that part of the reason Ritchie's movie will be different from the previous incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character is that besides going back to the original source material, the other projects never had the money to do it correctly.

The footage, a pseudo teaser-trailer, that followed had never been shown before, although we did glimpse a few scenes we saw being filmed and that were shown to ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! during our set visit last year, including Holmes' bare-knuckle fight and the early fight with Blackwood's henchmen. Otherwise, there was a lot of information going by very fast, as is always the case, so we tried to take notes and remember what we could.

It opens with eerie music and shadowy scenes of Victorian London and we see a shot of Downey's Holmes running down a spiral staircase and another of him smoking his trademark pipe as a voice-over tells Holmes that he needs to "widen his gaze" because he's underestimating the "gravity of coming events." The voiceover tells Holmes that at the dawn of the new day, the world as he knows it would end, to which Holmes responds playfully, "Well, there isn't any time to waste then" and he jumps out the window.

We get a brief glimpse of Eddie Marsan's Inspector LeStrade saying something about someone seeing Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong's villain in the film) rising from the grave, and Holmes is asked to find and stop him, which Holmes claims will "take every ounce of my not inconsiderable experience." To that, LeStrade comes back with a slam about it maybe being a hobby to Holmes, but that he does it for a living. (This confirms what Marsan told us last year about their working relationship not being a particularly friendly one.)

Holmes says that he needs to have someone with him that he can thoroughly trust, at which point we see him greeting Jude Law's Dr. Watson and we get a bit of the rapport between them, as the two of them squabble about the things roommates normally argue over, Law complaining about Holmes playing the violin late at night and his "lack of hygiene."

After that, we get a bit of the interaction between Holmes and Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler, as they scuffle, her pulling out an ornament from which sharp blades jut out to threaten Holmes. That interaction ends with him left chained to a bed. Watson finds him in that state and asks, "Holmes, does your depravity know no bounds?" to which Holmes replies, "No." (Later we see Adler in a very sexy outfit, as McAdams' credit is shown.)

Another scene shows Holmes facing a much larger opponent, who looked like Nathan Jones, the giant from the opening of Troy, atop what looked like a clock tower. Jones is wielding an enormous sledgehammer while Holmes is carrying just a standard everyday hammer, which he promptly throws at the giant hoping that would do some damage. (It doesn't, and the giant attacks.) This scene got a huge laugh from the audience.

There was a quick-cut montage of more action scenes before a scene where a maid walks into a room and screams, dropping the tray she was carrying. We cut to Downey chained to a bed naked except for a pillow covering his genitals, and he asks her to remain calm and that under the pillow is the "key to his release" and the shocked woman runs out screaming.

It was a very funny and exciting first look at what will surely be Guy Ritchie's most high profile film to date, and it got a great reaction from the exhibitors in attendance. It'll be interesting to see where and when this teaser trailer will surface, as it definitely did its job in showing what the movie is all about.

Sherlock Holmes opens on Christmas Day. Look for more from ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype!'s visit to the set shortly.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted
Rachel McAdams :wub:

This sounds like it's going to be great.

Yeah she's so cool, I think I only saw the lovefest named the notebook for her and of course Mean Girls which is win.

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

Reacon

Posted
Posted

Kicking ass and calling names? That is NOT how I remember the books, nor would I want to see a Sherlock Holmes like that. Sherlock is a genius inspector, not a James Bond. He solves mysteries using his brain, not his brawn. I hope to god they don't make him all out action. That would ruin the movie then and there.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted
Kicking ass and calling names? That is NOT how I remember the books, nor would I want to see a Sherlock Holmes like that. Sherlock is a genius inspector, not a James Bond. He solves mysteries using his brain, not his brawn. I hope to god they don't make him all out action. That would ruin the movie then and there.

When he started with the idea he said it would be loosely based on the Sherlock universe and its based on a graphic novel I think that's not even out yet.

Grand Master

Scirwode

Posted
Posted
Kicking ass and calling names? That is NOT how I remember the books, nor would I want to see a Sherlock Holmes like that. Sherlock is a genius inspector, not a James Bond. He solves mysteries using his brain, not his brawn. I hope to god they don't make him all out action. That would ruin the movie then and there.

Wasn't he really good at hand-to-hand combat in the book? He did go to quite a number of place to chase after his nemesis. Then again, it has been a while since I've last read the books so I might have to pick it up again just to refresh my memory.

Scirwode

Grand Master

Scirwode

Posted
Posted
Yeah he knew a fighting style, watch the old Jeremy Brett show if you can that was a pretty spot on Sherlock Holmes

I don't really know which one was that :p . Back in the 80's, I was glued to my TV watching Mind Your Language :rofl: !

Scirwode

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

Posted
  • Author
  • Veteran
Posted
I don't really know which one was that :p . Back in the 80's, I was glued to my TV watching Mind Your Language :rofl: !

Scirwode

Oh I wasn't it either only recently have I been rewatching them all on our local channels.

jeremy_brett.jpg

Grand Master

Scirwode

Posted
Posted
Oh I wasn't it either only recently have I been rewatching them all on our local channels.

jeremy_brett.jpg

I seem to remember that one, though I have to refresh my memory a bit more. Oh, and now you've gone and made me search for it :p .

Scirwode

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • AI is indeed eliminating jobs, and Oracle just proved it

      By WaltC · Posted

      AI will never be the jobs panacea some companies fantasize about today. Oracle is likely using it as an excuse, which we will see a lot of companies doing, I'm certain. They love their "plausible" excuses for their downturns. A couple of weeks ago my wife asked me to call Krogers about some discrepancy in a online grocery order, and it will be the last time either of us does that. I'll just do emails with humans from now on... The AI experience was horrible--the obviously recorded voice started asking a bunch of questions about our orders six months prior(!) and saying, "Is this in reference to your order on January 6, for $****?" You say "No!" and immediately the next question is "Is this in reference to your order on January 29th, for $****?" again, I answered "No!"--and it was incredible--on and on it went like that for fully 20 minutes until we finally got to the present, and only then was I put through to a human with authentic intelligence... I wondered why on Earth the idiot AI didn't start with the most recent orders and work back from there, as it was something anyone with a functioning brain would have done. And why didn't the AI have enough sense to ask me what the problem was in the first place? It didn't take too much deduction to understand that the goal of this "AI" was to cause the person on the phone to hang up in disgust, with no resolution of the problem. That begs another question: why pay for a tool-free problem line if the goal is to avoid solving your customer's problems?... Fortunately, Krogers does have real humans capable of reading an email and understanding it, and if she sees another situation in the future that's route she or I will take. The online grocery delivery service from Krogers has been great, over all, but their AI truly sucks.
    • AI is indeed eliminating jobs, and Oracle just proved it

      By +DDG3595 · Posted

      AI is the justification that company administrators use to lay people off; it is not the end all, be all touted in the media (many of whom can't tell a microchip from a potato chip). Greed is main driving factor behind its adoption; the other is remaining relevant in the face of competition from other entities.
    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By PsYcHoKiLLa · Posted

    • Firefox 152.0.2 is out with fixes for performance, translation, and cloud storage services

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Firefox 152.0.2 is out with fixes for performance, translation, and cloud storage services by Taras Buria A new bug-fixing update is now rolling out to Firefox users in the Release Channel. Less than a week ago, Mozilla fixed crashes on Intel Raptor Lake processors with version 152.0.1. Now, Mozilla has prepared yet another set of fixes that address problems with localization, playback issues of certain MP4 files, and performance issues on website that perform various encryption operations at once. Here is the full changelog: Firefox 152.0.2 is now available for download from Mozilla's FTP. Existing installations will get the update over the next several hours. The latest version will also be available soon on the official website, the Microsoft Store, and Neowin's Software page. You can find Firefox 152.0.2 release notes in the official documentation. In case you missed it, Mozilla released Firefox 152 earlier this month. The latest feature update brought reworked settings with a more streamlined user interface, JPEG XL support, new features for Private mode, a new way to mute a tab (just type "mute" in the address bar), and many more. You can find the complete changelog here. In other Firefox news, Mozilla recently published its roadmap, where the company detailed the upcoming Nova redesign and other features it plans to implement. Mozilla wants to make the new user interface easier to navigate and more modern, with a heavy focus on its privacy tools, such as its built-in VPN. If you are curious, you can already enable the new UI as described here.
    • Liene PixCut S1 Starter Kit gets a whopping 31% discount on Prime Day

      By Steven P. · Posted

      Liene PixCut S1 Starter Kit gets a whopping 31% discount on Prime Day by Steven Parker Liene reached out to us to share another Prime Day exclusive deal that starts today on Amazon. It gives buyers a massive 31% off on the cost of this color sticker printer and cutting machine. It's basically an all-in-one sticker maker for DIY crafts, custom labels and gifts. It utilizes thermal dye-sublimation at 300 dpi, and offers precise "AI" auto-cutting. Here are some more of its highlights: All-in-One Convenience - Print and Cut in One Step. Say goodbye to the hassle of using separate machines. The PixCut S1 seamlessly integrates high-resolution photo printing and precise die cutting into one streamlined device. With just a few clicks on the user-friendly app, you can edit, print, and cut directly from your smartphone via Bluetooth. Create stickers in just 2 minutes! This all-in-one solution saves you time and effort, making your creative projects more enjoyable and efficient. AI Image Extraction & Precision Cutting - Unleash your creativity with the AI image extraction feature that automatically recognizes and extracts subjects from your photos. Then watch as the high-precision cutting system, guided by the same AI technology, perfectly follows every edge with pinpoint accuracy. This seamless AI-to-cut workflow ensures flawless results every time. Turn any moment into custom stickers with professional edges in minutes - just masterpieces made simple. High-Resolution Prints - Vivid and True-to-Life Colors. Utilizing thermal dye-sublimation technology, the PixCut S1 delivers stunning 300 dpi high-resolution prints with 16.7 million colors. Whether you're printing photos, stickers, or labels, you can expect vibrant, true-to-life color effects that make your creations stand out. Every detail is captured with precision, providing professional-quality results every time. AI Lab - Bring Your Imagination to Life. Upload a photo, pick a style from the Liene Photo App, and watch AI bring your vision to life instantly. Turn selfies into an anime character, a fantasy hero, or a festive holiday illustration — all with stunning realism. One style, endless versions of you. Print your AI art as custom stickers, unique gifts, or social media posts — perfect for avatars and DIY projects. No design experience required. Your creativity is just one click away from magic. Durable Stickers - Create Long-Lasting Creations .Thanks to the four-layer thermal dye-sublimation technology, the photopaper is automatically laminated during printing. Stickers produced by PixCut S1 are durable, waterproof and scratch-resistant, ensuring they remain vibrant and intactover time. Perfect for creating custom stickers, labels, and more that last. No Subscription. Just Pure Creativity. With the Liene app, available on mobile, tablet, and desktop. Unlock 40,000+ free images, fonts & elements (and growing), plus 2000+ ready-to-use templates for phone skins, lens stickers, ID cards, labels, name tags, journaling, and more. No paywalls, no hidden fees, just pure creativity. Turn any idea into a custom creation in minutes. Your imagination has no limits, neither should your software. This deal is for the Starter Kit, so what do you get? What's in the box PixCut S1 Photo Sticker Printer and Cutter x 1 Photo Sticker Cutter Ink Cartridge x 1 (36 sheets) Photo Paper 4"x6" (18 sheets) Sticker Paper 4"x7" (White) x 18 sheets Blade x 1 (Pre-installed) So in short everything you need to get printing and cutting. The Liene PixCut S1 has a 4.3 star rating after more than 1,000 reviews from customers, but we can't promise the landing page always sold this particular model, so do check out the reviews before purchasing. In any case Prime members are covered with a 30 day return or replacement should things not work out so great. Liene Pixcut S1 for $205.99 (was $299.99) 31% off Use code 15PIXCUT6 during checkout Although this is a Prime Day discount, the above code will stay live until June 30. Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      timbobit earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      481
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      174
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      102
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      88
    5. 5
      neufuse
      70
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!