Deadline reports that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who have previously teamed for comedies like Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, are prepping a Sony Pictures comedy inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes. Titled Holmes and Watson, the big screen comedy will feature Ferrell as the 21B Baker Street sleuth with Reilly playing Dr. Watson.
Holmes and Watson will be directed by Etan Cohen, who recently directed Ferrell and Kevin Hart in Get Hard. According to the article, the film was originally planned to team Ferrell with Sacha Baron Cohen in the Watson role. Cohen also starred with Ferrell and Reilly in Talladega Nights and has plans to work with Cohen on Warner Bros. Pictures‘ Mandrake the Magician.
In addition to a brief small screen appearance on FOX‘s The Last Man on Earth, Will Ferrell appeared earlier this year in the Paramount Pictures comedy sequel Zoolander 2. John C. Reilly, meanwhile, recently appeared in Yorgos Lanthimos’ intense dark comedy The Lobster and will soon lend his voice to Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment‘s animated musical Sing. He’s also slated to appear in next year’s Kong: Skull Island and was recently confirmed to reprise his title role in Walt Disney Animation‘s Wreck-It Ralph sequel, set for a March 9, 2018 release.
Set up with Mosaic and Gary Sanchez Productions producing, Holmes and Watson is planned to begin production this fall.
