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Two Casting Updates on Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes

by Alex Billington
September 5, 2008
Source: Latino Review, ComingSoon

Sometime last week, a rumor about Russell Crowe being cast as Watson in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes hit the internet, but right off the bat I knew it couldn't be true. I decided to stay away and it was quickly debunked, as expected. But now El Mayimbe of Latino Review brings us an interesting update today on Sherlock Holmes, including that Crowe may actually be involved - but not in the role originally rumored. While the rumor about Watson was debunked, El Mayimbe claims that Crowe is still in the running for the role of Professor Moriarty, Holmes' nemesis. Additionally, ComingSoon chimed in yesterday to announce that Mark Strong, who plays Archie in the upcoming RocknRolla, had been cast as well.

Strong is supposedly joining Sherlock Holmes as Algernon Blackwood, an individual who was part of a magical order called The Golden Dawn. If you've never heard of Mark Strong, don't worry, you'll become quite familiar with him when you see RocknRolla - he was one of the best characters in it. As for Professor Moriarty, he is Holmes' antagonist, a criminal mastermind described as the "Napoleon of Crime." I've been curious to find out who the villain would be in Sherlock Holmes, and now we seem to have our answer. Moriarty is considered the first true example of a supervillain and should be an exciting adversary for Holmes to go up against in the film - especially if Russell Crowe is indeed playing him.

Just yesterday I talked with Guy Ritchie in-person at length about RocknRolla as well as Sherlock Holmes, which was one hell of an experience itself. I'll be running that interview later, but let's just say that his comments on Sherlock Holmes were not only quite reassuring, but also very exciting, to say the least. I'm a fan of Ritchie anyway, but to see him taking on Sherlock Holmes in this way and bringing us a version of that character that we've never seen sounds so damn exciting. I'm anxious to find out who he'll bring on as Watson, but he hasn't cast that role yet. Both Crowe and Strong are great additions so far; Ritchie always finds great ensemble casts. We'll be following this closely and scouting for more updates so stay tuned!

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