ShoWest: First Look at Sherlock Holmes

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ShoWest: First Look at Sherlock Holmes

Source:Edward Douglas

March 31, 2009

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.

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Posted by: Jeramy PBF Studios RedbeardsBooty.blogspot.com on March 31, 2009 at 14:44:18

Can't wait to see it.

Posted by: Green Lantern on March 31, 2009 at 14:45:03

Robert looks good, a movie I will see at Christmas

Posted by: ross2287 on March 31, 2009 at 15:03:29

Any chance this will get online?

Posted by: Fort on March 31, 2009 at 15:04:56

Holmes and Watson are like Laurel and Hardy in this...they both sleep in the same bed,WTF!?

Posted by: NOT A TUMOR on March 31, 2009 at 15:14:06

Christmas is always a rough time to bring out a new film. If we look back at the last 2 openings at this time of year we find Aliens Vs. Predator Requiem, a film with a budget that never got used, and The Spirit which also was a big budget, but was badly viewed and reviewed. So why not a summer opening? Is it so we can keep Mr Downey in the spotlight until his summer movie Iron Man 2 comes out in 2010? Hmmmm?! You don't need the deduction skills of Mr Holmes to figure that one out. On this note, I think I will wait for a good review before I plunk down any money for this.

Posted by: culvi on March 31, 2009 at 15:32:30

Will be a good movie! For sure!!!

Posted by: rightwinger on March 31, 2009 at 15:35:22

Rachel McAdams = this generation's Julie Roberts

With the film she's in with Crowe (State of Play) and now this... as long as she keeps choosing roles well, looking amazing and working on her acting chops, she will be the new Julie Roberts, aka the Hollywood Sweetheart.

I initially thought it would be Reese Witherspoon, but she's fizzled.

Posted by: jacob young on March 31, 2009 at 15:36:06

Rachel McAdams... definitely hottness and a half. Especially with the darker hair, like in Wedding Crashers. I don't particularly care for her with the lighter hair colors. She was also super hot in the Notebook, during the kissing on the dock in the rain seen. She is hot. I would say her appeal is more than "elementary" my dear Watson. ZING!

Posted by: rightwinger on March 31, 2009 at 15:40:54

^
^ * Julia Roberts. Darn vowels! :P

Posted by: Garange on March 31, 2009 at 16:12:25

Hey Rightwinger, this is my response to your post on the Holmes poster thread. "If this is such a "lazy generation who has never read a Holmes book" as you so graciously put it, why attach the great detectives' name to the movie in the first place? If they had made Watchmen without sticking to the source material, I believe the fallout from that would be way worse than losing a few ticket sales! If you're gonna come on here, and suggest that this generation could care less about the source material, you're in the wrong place buddy. It is a shame that a lot of folks haven't enjoyed any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, but to come on here and say that gives them a reason to derive from the source material is just ridiculous!"

Posted by: Doyle-fan on March 31, 2009 at 16:45:52

It is truly sad that our current culture is deathly afraid to create any new characters, clinging instead to "brand names" in an attempt to offset their own creative anxieties.

That said, the original material will still survive and surpass any re-imagining thrown its way by nervous filmmakers. Fear no pale shadows.

Posted by: ico on March 31, 2009 at 18:10:26

This movie is going to suck horribly and be really stupid. It will be all action, no substance. The producer said the intellect will take a backseat to the action. They're basically trying to turn Holmes into Batman.

Posted by: Onyx on March 31, 2009 at 18:27:14

Sherlock Holmes is hardly an action hero. I have to admit that another comment here comparing him to the Batman is particularly apt: Holmes is the world's greatest detective and that's a moniker often attributed to the Batman, but deductive ability aside, the two characters are nothing alike and this tripe is insulting to anyone that considers himself a Holmes fan.

I'll probably rent this when it comes out on video (for Robert Downey, Jr. more than anything else), but to pay $10 to go to a theater for this travesty is ridiculous.

It's particularly sad that Hollywood feels the need to cheapen this character by appealing to the lowest common denominator audience (I'd suspect the 12-25 age range).

Posted by: ico on March 31, 2009 at 18:53:37

Onyx

"It's particularly sad that Hollywood feels the need to cheapen this character by appealing to the lowest common denominator audience (I'd suspect the 12-25 age range)."

I said the same exact thing on another article about this movie. I completely agree and when i said that last time i was practically attacked, "ico your an idiot", "shut up!", "you don't know what you're talking about!" and now all of these commenters are all of a sudden agreeing with me.

Posted by: LAsmokeout24 on March 31, 2009 at 19:43:56

Dont know much about Sherlock but with RDJ in it maybe its something worth watching.

Posted by: myk on March 31, 2009 at 20:57:46

I really do want to see this. Looks like it will be good. I don't think there has been a RDJ movie I haven't liked..well almost any.

Posted by: skulls on March 31, 2009 at 23:08:39

The giant isn't Nathan Jones, "The Dredger" as he is called is played by Robert Maillet who played the giant Uber Immortal in 300.

Posted by: Garange on April 1, 2009 at 15:06:17

@ skulls They said he played the huge guy at the beginning of TROY not 300.

Posted by: Anicent Fanboy on April 1, 2009 at 15:38:06

I surprised at the remark that previous Holmes productions have "lack the budget", so to speak.
I find that hardly a realistic fact.
This is a weird offbeat approach to the character to say the least.
And the film may be watchable, but is this really Sherlock Holmes?
Doubtful.

Posted by: demoralized beyond belief on April 2, 2009 at 14:37:25

God help us all!!!!!!
that trembling you feel is the sound of Conan Doyle spinning in his grave!!

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