It has been 10 years since Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's hilarious team-up in 2008's Step Brothers, a film that remains loved and gut-busting to this day. Now the game is afoot and this comedic duo are once again teaming up for a comedy, but this time it will be not as step brothers, but as partners. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are starring in Holmes & Watson as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective and his friend and confidante in what will obviously be a humorous take on the classic mysteries. Now have our first look at the two in the first poster for Holmes & Watson. Check it out:
I didn't know they threw up gang signs in Victorian era England, but there you have it. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly certainly look the part of the two friends and partners, rocking 19th century garb. Although I would have liked to have seen Will Ferrell's Sherlock Holmes wearing his deerstalker hat and smoking his classic pipe, but there is probably some rule against the latter. These two 'Holmies' look extremely confident, but something tells me Holmes' powers of logic and deduction might not be quite as astute as some of the other incarnations of the character. Just from this poster on Twitter you can tell how ridiculous this movie will be, and I fully expect that Holmes and Watson will hilariously bumble their way through whatever mystery they are solving.
That's really the exciting part about this movie: seeing the dynamic between these two actors and their characters. We've seen the magic that Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly can make together in a buddy film before, and watching these two in a 19th century detective movie is a premise ripe for hilarity. I can't wait to see Sherlock Holmes condescendingly telling Watson 'it's elementary' while completely missing the mark on his deduction skills. This film should provide a different, funnier telling of the Baker Street resident than the Robert Downey Jr. films or the Benedict Cumberbatch TV series. Such is the benefit of public domain characters, lots of different interpretations. The debut of this poster hopefully that means that a teaser or trailer for Holmes & Watson isn't too far off.
In addition to Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in the title roles, Holmes & Watson boasts an impressive cast that includes Hugh Laurie as Mycroft, Ralph Fiennes as Professor Moriarty and Kelly Macdonald as Mrs. Hudson. Holmes & Watson is written and directed by Etan Cohen who most recently directed Will Ferrell in Get Hard.
UPDATE: The poster in question has since been removed. Fortunately, there should be plenty of trailers, posters and other fun bits released over the next few months that will come officially from the studio.
You can investigate Holmes & Watson when it hits theater screens on November 9th. Check out all the biggest movies still to come this year in our release calendar.
