Wow. These sequels are getting greenlit, lined up and into pre-production faster and faster. I remember a time (he wistfully notes) when you used to have to wait and see if a film was both good and commercially successful before you started cracking on with sequels. Those times are long gone. With Marvel setting the pace with their fearless timetable for Thor, Iron Man, Spidey and Avengers sequels, WB are getting in on the act, clearly having decided that they are happy enough with what they have seen of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock sequel to give the go ahead to more.
Certainly the trailer we’ve seen for Sherlock 2 looks impressive enough, with plenty of style, quips, intrigue and bombast and equally certainly, WB must be convinced that they have more on their hands than just 2.5 minutes of good trailer material. Drew Pearce, creator of UK superhero satire series No Heroics and currently scribbling away on Iron Man 3, has been tasked with the script for the threequel, which THR rightly note follows the formula with the greenlighting of SH2 and the appointing of Michele and Kieran Mulroney as writers before part 1 had yet seen the light of day, back in late 2009.
Given how most studios handle their key properties, it seems likely that RDJ and Jude Law will both be tied into three picture deals. RDJ in particular is looking like becoming utterly absorbed with franchises (Iron Man, Avengers and Holmes) though it is hoped that he will be able to find time for other projects as well. As excellent as his work is on those franchises and as much as he is entitled to make his money from those while the opportunity is there, it would be a shame to not see him in less conventional material like Zodiac, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and A Scanner Darkly.
As for Drew Pearce, he is rising and rising and rightly so. Sherlock Holmes will be his first departure from his comfort zone of superheroes and their ilk since his work on the 2006 TV series Lip Service, but one would think that a good writer is a good writer and no doubt Pearce will turn his hand as confidently and capably to Holmes as to anything else.
