Reinventions

[akashiver]

I haven't horrified you with entertainment news in a while. So here you go:

The latest franchise to get reimagined: Sherlock Holmes

"Sherlock Holmes" Gets Reinvented: Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Lionel Wigram will adapt Wigram's upcoming comicbook "Sherlock Holmes" for the bigscreen.

The aim, according to Variety, is to reinvent Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth and Dr. Watson in the same edgy way that Batman and Bond have been in the past two years.

Michael Johnson is penning the script for the project, expected to be the next directing project of "The Descent" helmer Neil Marshall who is currently filming "Doomsday" for Rogue Pictures.



Hmm. Well... I like Neil Marshall's direction, so that would be cool... But is "Sherlock Holmes" in need of "reinvention"? The nice thing about both Casino Royale and Batman Begins is that both movies went back to the basics, stripping away a lot of the Hollywood FX, gagetry and merchandising tie-ins that had transformed those franchises into bloated monstrosities.

But Sherlock Holmes... I don't think Holmes adapatations have suffered as much as the Bond+Batman films have. There hasn't been as much deviation from the original.

Then again, this is a comic book adaptation, not *actually* a reinvention per se.

The storyline is being kept under wraps, no word on if it will use some of Doyle's mysteries but Wigram does plan to showcase some of Holmes lesser known traits including sword fighting and bare knuckle boxing.

See, *that* sounds like deviation to me. Holmes solves mysteries through deduction, not parkour. Sure, he can box, but action-heroics is not what the character is famous for.

*Sigh*

Well... maybe the comic book will be good.

Reinvention #2:

Veronica Mars dead? Alive?

I hope the FBI proposition gets greenlit. From what I've heard about VM, it's a good show suffering from the dreaded "transition to college" plotline. (See also: Buffy S4, every other high-school show that tried to follow characters into university). I think jumping ahead a few years and reinventing the show would be a good move.

More news:

Following the trend set by The Queen -
Margaret Thatcher gets a movie! So does Queen V!

And for you Supernatural fans out there: the Weekly World News has an issue out featuring an interview with the Winchesters. I kid you not. Here's part of the online version (I like the print version more, myself.)

Comments

[mastergode.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, and as such, I'm quite familiar with it.

Holmes is one of those figures in popular culture who does, in fact, suffer from much deviation from the original text.

There was a series that aired in Britain some years ago starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, and let me tell you, that series was utterly fantastic. It was dead-on.

However, owing to the unfortunate interpretation of Basil Rathbone, the real Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle has mostly been forgotten in American culture.

While you've said that Sherlock Holmes solves cases through deduction and not "parkour", as you put it, that isn't necessarily the case. While Sherlock Holmes USUALLY uses deduction to solve cases, there are specifically a few instances where that was not the case. Most notably in his tragic fisticuff battle with Professor Moriarty, which lead to widespread reports of his death. Also, in his first case, "A Scandal in Bohemia", he solves it by diguising himself and infiltrating a household.

Strictly speaking, Sherlock Holmes uses his deduction as a tool like any other. Not, by any means, as his only tool.

Now, that said, do I expect Hollywood to make the sort of responsible use of those elements that Doyle did? Absolutely, positively not. Frankly, I anticipate a disaster. But what they say isn't necessarily outside of canon.

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

While you've said that Sherlock Holmes solves cases through deduction and not "parkour", as you put it, that isn't necessarily the case. While Sherlock Holmes USUALLY uses deduction to solve cases, there are specifically a few instances where that was not the case. Most notably in his tragic fisticuff battle with Professor Moriarty, which lead to widespread reports of his death. Also, in his first case, "A Scandal in Bohemia", he solves it by diguising himself and infiltrating a household.

He disguises himself quite a bit, as I recall, and engages in both fisticuffs and swordplay. But that's not the *point* of Holmes, at least to my mind. The emphasis of the stories is always on his ability to figure out the mystery, not on his ability to chase down criminals and engage them in violent confrontation.

If the reinvention merely plans to include story elements that are often neglected, I'm all for it. But if it plans to "reinvent" Holmes as an action hero rather than as a detective - well, I'd have issues with that.

[mastergode.livejournal.com]

No, of course that's not the point of Sherlock Holmes, and I think that you'd be hard pressed to find someone who thought it was.

I suppose that you could break it down to say that Holmes uses deduction to figure out who the criminals are, and then may use an alternate set of skills to apprehend them, though to be fair, he frequently relies upon the police in the novels.

Honestly, I don't think that they plan to reinvent him as an action hero, but more likely he'll just play a more active role in his apprehension of the criminals. At least, so I can hope. =\

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

There was a series that aired in Britain some years ago starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, and let me tell you, that series was utterly fantastic. It was dead-on.

However, owing to the unfortunate interpretation of Basil Rathbone, the real Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle has mostly been forgotten in American culture.

...didn't that series merely add a deerstalker hat and "Elementary Dear Watson"? I haven't seen them since I was a kid, so I can't remember...

I doubt, at any rate, that the Holmes series has had to put up with nippled body suits, empty-headed nuclear physicists, invisible cars and spandex. If it has, I clearly need to add some DVDs to my Netflix Queue...

[mastergode.livejournal.com]

Yes, it added both of those things.

However, what it also added was something that, ironically, it took away. What made Brett's rendition so good was that he embodied not just the strengths of Sherlock Holmes, but also the weaknesses.

Sherlock Holmes isn't just some normal person who happens to be a deductive genius... He's a very flawed man.

Most interpretations of Holmes have excluded his flaws to such an extent that if you ask an American to tell you about Sherlock Holmes, they'll think he's some kind of superman at solving crime. Like everything about him is perfect. They don't know that he used drugs, and that he was almost a manic depressive.

Brett really captured the total essence of Holmes, both in his highs and in his lows. The lows are something which is portrayed in the novels fairly prominantly, but which is excluded from nearly every representation of him in the media.

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

I adored the Brett Holmes. Oh, those where some fun movies. Of course I actually liked the Rupert Everett Holmes, too.

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

I love Buffy S4, I really do! I still think it's about the only high-school TV show that successfully survived the transition to college...

I totally agree that VM would do great to take a break of a few years, though. My theory is that Veronica needs to be immersed in a social environment for the premise of the show to work, she needs to be able to navigate her milieu better than the viewers can, and that's one of the many reasons S3 was so bad. I'm not sure I want to see her at the FBI academy though, I think she ought to be way too cynical about the US government to want to work for it!

And I cannot, cannot believe that they are seriously considering making a film about Thatcher. It had better be a satire, is all I can say...

[mastergode.livejournal.com]

I love Buffy S4, I really do!

*shudders*

[arcana-mundi.livejournal.com]

Me too! I really, really do. Except the actor who played Parker Abrams made me want to hurl heavy objects at the screen. What a girly man.

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm not alone! I did hate the Parker storyline though. :)

[arcana-mundi.livejournal.com]

I know! Parker was just gross. I loved it when Willow goosed him over his smugnitude.

The Freshman, Living Conditions, HUSH (omg), A New Man, Something Blue, Primeval - seriously among my favorite episodes of all time. I even liked Beer Bad. Mostly for the hilarity of Xander and his lighter.

[anima-mecanique.livejournal.com]

Eh. I judge adaptations of Sherlock Holmes by their Watsons. I'll be down with a movie that has a useful, interesting Watson instead of a bumbling piece of baggage. Watson might not be as smart as Sherlock, but that's rather like saying "not as energetic as a supernova".

Sherlock Holmes does not suffer fools lightly.

[gollumgollum.livejournal.com]

And for you Supernatural fans out there: the Weekly World News has an issue out featuring an interview with the Winchesters. I kid you not.

That's badass. I'm loving it. I mean...lousy-ass article, but...a part of my soul is singing. (The rest of my soul is cringing, but that's neither here nor there.)

[gollumgollum.livejournal.com]

Speaking of...

http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/June07/17/SUPNAT_Cv2_solicit.jpg