Robert Downey Jr. Discusses Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man 2
Posted 12.11.09 by Ryan
Actor Robert Downey, Jr. has two franchises hanging in the balance. Starting this month, Downey Jr. and Jude Law will appear in Sherlock Holmes, in what could possibly be the beginning of a brand new franchise, while next year Downey Jr. hopes to find continued success with Iron Man 2. With the weight of one franchise already on his shoulders, Downey Jr. told RottenTomatoes that he decided to join Holmes only after finding the perfect Watson, which meant pursuing Law to take the role.
The realization I had was that Holmes and Watson were the first action duo — I dare anybody to predate them. The movie, just as the books, is told, through [author Sir Arthur Conan] Doyle as Watson, describing Holmes and his adventures. At a certain level, Doyle is Watson. It's hard to make that come through in the script, because usually when studios take a property, they decide to spin a point of view on it. Well, this one didn't need to be spun, we just needed to find the right guy. So we were pursuing Jude, and, understandably, he was cautiously optimistic. I knew that it was gonna work out, because two seconds after we started sitting down
and having a coffee, we were already talking like we were shaping and work shopping every and anything that was possible with these guys. And, most of all, we were looking back into the massive database of books and short stories regarding those two fellows.
Brad Pitt's Sherlock Holmes set visit stirred Internet rumors that cast Pitt as Holmes' arch-nemesis Moriarty. Downey Jr. explained he was indeed trying to convince Pitt to play the character in a possible sequel.
I mean, the rumors have changed a couple of times, and I definitely talked to Brad about it. There's just really no telling where it's going to go. But the good news for us is that I think that this version of Holmes, if we're lucky, will really be a done and dusted calling card for whoever winds up being Moriarty, if we continue.
Downey Jr. says that they'll know if Holmes will be successful franchise about 3 days after it opens, while making Iron Man 2 a success means sticking to the reality of the original.
I think what worked for Iron Man is that it almost seemed like something from the cover of Popular Mechanics. These kinds of suits were starting to be made in the States and Japan, so people were responding to Iron Man almost as though it was a more of a high-tech James Bond. So how could we start to introduce elements of the story lines in the comics without becoming too outlandish, where it wasn't rooted in some kind of reality? That's my big thing, and the only thing that's really been of been of any benefit with my — quote, unquote — successes recently, is that they have allowed people to trust my instincts more comfortably, and to give me a little more creative leverage. And that's all that matters, because all the other stuff comes and goes.
Sherlock Holmes opens December 25 and Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010.