Henry Cavill's future as Superman is unknown, but for many that's unimportant now that the actor has found another hit in Netflix's The Witcher. The first season was very ell regarded by fans and while the second season is on the way, we knew we wouldn't be seeing it until sometime next year even before every movie and television production under the sun was delayed. However, if you're in need of a little Netflix hit of Henry Cavill, there's good news, as Netflix has announced the new film, Enola Holmes starring Millie Bobby Brown as well as Cavill, is coming to the streaming service.
The film, based on a YA book series, is produced by Legendary Pictures and was probably expected to be a theatrical release, but Netflix announced today it has acquired the rights to film, in all nations outside of China. No specific release date was announced but a tweet from the official Netflix account said the movie would be debuting "soon."
The film will star Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown as the title character Enola Holmes, the heretofore unknown sister of Sherlock Holmes, who will be played by Cavill. Sam Claflin will play Mycroft Holmes and Helena Bonham Carter will also appear in the role of the Homes' matriarch, who goes missing, prompting Enola to go looking for her.
There are six books written by Nancy Springer that star Enola Holmes, so if the first one proves popular the possibility of a Netflix movie franchise seems possible.
The move from Netflix isn't too surprising when you think about it. Both Millie Bobby Brown and now Henry Cavill have built an audience on Netflix that might be very interested in seeing them, with both The Witcher and Stranger Things not expected for some time. The Sherlock Holmes connection might also help bring in some audience. At the same time, there's nothing about this one that makes it an obvious box office hit. If Legendary was unsure of the success of this project on the big screen, the shift to Netflix would make sense, other films have made similar movies. The fact that the future of the theatrical box office is an open question was likely also a consideration. Any movie that's "on the bubble" as far as audience interest goes has a decision to make in the near term.
Henry Cavill will join a long list of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes on screen going back decades. It will be interesting to see his take on the iconic sleuth. While the book this film is based off is an unofficial spinoff of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Canon, perhaps we could see spinoff films featuring Cavill if the role becomes popular enough.
This pick up for Netflix follows the announcement that Netflix will see The Lovebirds, a film originally set to debut on the big screen, on the service next month.
