Having played the Iconic comic book hero Tony Stark with such ease, charisma and likeable charm, Robert Downey Jr. is a serious Hollywood star right now and this has to be seen as a major coup for Brit director Guy Ritchie.

Variety say Downey Jr. has agreed to star as Sherlock Holmes in Ritchie’s new big budget film drama of the famous detective from Baker Street.

Shooting begins in October, from a polished script draft by Anthony Peckham (Don’t Say A Word).

No word on who will play Dr. Watson, or whether the villainous Professor Moriarty is in the film.

Warner Bros. are desperate to get the project under-way before Columbia and Judd Apatow’s spoof comedy version which is also being fast tracked with Sacha Baron Cohen (as Holmes) and Will Ferrell (as Watson) starring in a script by Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen.

Downey Jr already has an Oscar nomination in his bag for playing a British legend, albeit a real life one in Charles Chaplin. Downey Jr’s version of Holmes could be the most charismatic but at the same time neurotic than we have ever seen before. Can’t wait to see it.

Thanks for visiting us at Obsessed With Film, we update several times a day, so if you haven't done so yet you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. You can also sign up to receive updates via e-mail.

It was just under a year ago (June 21st) that Dreamworks and Universal Pictures teamed up in a joint venture deal that would bring the pulp sci-fi/western comic book series Cowboys & Aliens to the big screen as a potential big screen tentpole in 2010.

Now comes word from The Hollywood Reporter that the man of the moment, Robert Downey Jr. is in talks for the lead role.

“Cowboys & Aliens” derives from a graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley from an original idea by Rosenberg. The story centers on an Old West battle between the Apache and Western settlers, including a former Union Army gunslinger named Zeke Jackson (Downey), that is interrupted by a spaceship crashing into the prairie near Silver City, Ariz.

The story draws a parallel between the American imperialist drive to conquer the “savage” Indians with its advanced technology and the aliens’ assault on Earthlings, who must join together to survive the invaders’ attack.

After a decade of development and several different writers at various studio’s, it’s the team of Children of Men scribes Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus whose work has convinced a studio to fully go ahead and commit to the project. They also penned an early version of Iron Man, which would of course eventually see Downey Jr make multiple millions of dollars for Paramount and Marvel.

Downey Jr as an old school gunslinger who encounters aliens, in the midst of a good old cowboy and Indian battle?

How cool does this project sound? Let’s hope talks with Downey Jr go smoothly and the producers can quickly find a suitable director.

Astonishingly, the rumor which now looks to be completely 100% true is that despite Jon Favreau almost single handily taking a B list Marvel superhero into the upper echelons of the Spider-Man and X-Men blockbusters and in the process making over $530 million worldwide at the box office alone, the studio are reluctant to pay the director his big salary for a sequel.

Can you believe that? Astonishing. The blame has squarely been branded on the head of David Maisel, the head chairman of Marvel Studio’s who many are calling “too cheap” to pay Favreau a fair sum. I mean after all, if Favreau has an awful lot to do with the franchise being in the strong position it’s in right now.

The story comes originally from IESB but has since been backed up by AICN. This looks to be a serious problem and the lockdown in negotiations is undoubtedly why Marvel have not contacted the director in a few weeks and why Favreau recently stated that the 2010 release date was unrealistic.

The understanding is that Maisel doesn’t wanna pay Paramount the huge salaries that the likes of Brett Ratner and Michael Bay have gotten in the past and he believes that now the franchise is set on it’s feat, he could bring anyone to that director’s chair and the result would be the same… an uber popular movie that makes them a fortune.

Right as he may be, there are also more factors at stake. If a new director comes in and the movie bombs… that’s costly not just for future Iron Man films but for future cross-over movies and the universe you are finally starting to put together. Secondly… would Favreau’s good friends Robert Downey Jr. or Terrence Howard be so comfortable carrying on the series without him? Lose them, you lost your franchise.

Can you imagine if Warner Bros. handed asked Christopher Nolan to come back and direct The Dark Knight? Can you imagine if Sam Raimi had been dumped on Spider-Man after the first film?

I can be a pretty stubborn guy but Maisel right now needs to leave that behind and take a real long look at himself in the mirror. Pay up, Favreau deserves so much more than just a salary, he should have a golden ticket at Marvel for what he has done with Iron Man. Don’t screw things up already when everything was looking so rosy with your future plans!

Of course Hugh Hefner wants Robert Downey Jr. to play him in a biopic of his life. He is such a likeable actor even when he is playing not so likeable characters that you can’t really lose if he’s on board. And as much as I would love to see the actor move away as far as possible from his Tony Stark character for other movie roles, it seems to be something he and everyone else really wants him to do.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and the movie’s director Brett Ratner gave an exclusive interview to Coming Soon, almost going as far as begging the actor to jump on board…

“I guess the next big thing we’re looking forward to is the movie and we’re hoping that Robert Downey Jr. will be portraying me,” Hef revealed. “Brian Grazer is producing. Brett Ratner is directing. We’re finishing up the screenplay and hope to have to be in production by the end of the year.”

“Originally, in the first draft it was covering everything, which proved impossible,” Hefner explained. “It would make a good mini-series. It’s going to cover the launch of the magazine which is about 1952-1953 to the middle of the 1970s.”

On Downey Jr…

“he’s a very good actor. It has nothing to do with ‘Iron Man.’ Our conversations with Robert were in the months immediately before ‘Iron Man.’ He called immediately after ‘Iron Man’ and asked ‘When we were going to do the movie?””

Ratner says…

“It’s not just about his life it’s about the creation of the magazine,” said Ratner. “I think the movie is more than just a film, it’s about the Sexual Revolution and how much he brought to it. The change in America and the influence that Playboy had on the world. He had this idea and it was lighting in a bottle to create a magazine to change the world on how they viewed sexuality.”

Robert Downey Jr. will be in the movie, I’m certain of it. And with the actor’s stock right now, it will be HUGE at the box office.

Director Jon Favreau tells fans on his Myspace that contrary to what Terrence Howard said this week, filming will not be ready to begin in March on Iron Man 2 and that he is concerned that the April 2010 release date branded out by Paramount/Marvel is too “unrealistic”.

It’s been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.

I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the BB/DK, X/X2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.

He answers a few more questions which you can read HERE but it’s openly obvious that they have no script and have barely sat down to discuss a sequel since the movie opened six weeks ago.

I’m sure these comments won’t go down well with Marvel. They very much want the sequel to be done by April 2010 otherwise it could disrupt their plans for the Thor, Captain America and then Avengers movie which are all tightly scheduled around each other.

source - coming soon

How exciting and possibly a little confusing it must be to the uneducated movie watcher who maybe walked out of the theatre last month extremely satisified with Iron Man enjoying Robert Downey Jr’s portrayl of playboy/inventor/superhero Tony Stark immensely to only then see him pop up in a trailer for a new comic book movie which is out in a few days time.

But that’s exactly the kind of curiosity that will help Marvel in the future.

Wisely they haven’t promoted the shit out of it so far because that would only lead to fan dissapointment as he is only in the thing for one scene but adding the appearance in this one tv spot should get some people talking and may just help those who were sitting on the fence for this film prior, to be convinced to go and give it a chance.

The Incredible Hulk opens on Thursday.

source - coming soon

I’ve had my eye on The Soloist for quite some time.

It’s the third movie from the talented British director of Pride & Prejudice and Atonement and will be his first set in the U.S.

Jamie Foxx plays his first musician role (though he did play a band manager in Dreamgirls) since his Oscar winning Ray and Robert Downey Jr. plays a reporter for the first time since his SHOULD HAVE BEEN OSCAR nominated role in Zodiac…

The movie is the real life story of musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) who developed schizophrenia and ended up homeless on the streets of downtown L.A. where he performed solo violin and cello sessions. The film depicts the relationship that developed between Ayers and Steve Lopez (Foxx), who was a Los Angeles Times reporter who has an upcoming book about Ayers to be published soon.

The movie opens November 21st (February in the U.K. - bummer!) and co-stars Catherine Keener and Stephen Root.

A fascinating true story - a good director - two great leading actors. Could be Oscar potential material?

source - usa today, /film

Another Brett Ratner story, haven’t we suffered enough?

EW have spoken to Ratner this week who has confirmed the internet rumors that he has met with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. about his upcoming Playboy movie, where the point of discussion was whether Robert was interested in playing the lead of Hugh Hefner.

Ratner says Downey Jr. is committed verbally, as long as the script lives up to his pitch…

“Robert Downey Jr. agreed to do it based on the script,” the director says. “We’re gonna hand him the script very shortly. He loves the character and the role and we’ve been meeting with him on it. So, if he wants to do it, we’re excited to have him.”

Covering the same ground… much?

It’s only been a month since his Playboy persona of Tony Stark won a massive audience for Paramount but isn’t moving into playing a real Playboy over-exposure of a certain portrayal the actor has?

I would say this is a dumb move on the part of Downey Jr… it would almost be like Harrison Ford leading movies about another archaeologist adventurer at the height of his Indiana Jones days in the 80’s. I can’t help but feel this one might bite you in the ass in the future, especially with Iron Man 2 wanting to be wrapped and in theatres in less than two hours - audiences could get tired very soon of the same role.

Ratner on the other hand I’m fine with directing this, especially if it goes for the comedic tone. This is the kind of ground he should only be allowed to cover, he should never be given a budget to direct something serious.

UPDATED: Here is the trailer in all it’s bloody glory.You can see it HERE, it’s U.S. restricted but the zip code 27605 will work just fine for ya.Now don’t you dare go and tell me that this movie hasn’t won you over yet. Funny as shit. And best of all - this movie should inspire Quentin Tarantino to finish his damn WW-II ensemble screenplay!

END OF UPDATE

I’ve just been informed that a blood and guts, red-band trailer for Tropic Thunder will be going live at 6pm tonight in the U.K. over at the movie’s official website.

The trailer will never be shown in theatres and is restricted to the Internet only.

Remember, 6pm HERE.

To see Robert Downey Jr - do this kind of role soon after becoming a REAL movie star with Iron Man - is just going to be one hell of a fascinating performance. It may well over-shadow the film but hey, when has that never happened with Rob before!

Directed by: Jon Poll

Written by: Gustin Nash

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton, Mark Rendall, Dylan Taylor

Distributed by Verve Pictures

Film is released in the U.K. on May 16th 2008

Review by Michael Edwards

This is a tricky movie to decide where I stand, I have to say. So I’ll begin with the description and see if I build some momentum by the end.

A high-school drama/coming-of-age comedy, CHARLIE BARTLETT tells the tale of the eponymous child (Anton Yelchin), a rich kid who is thrown out of a string of private schools before ending up in a dirty state school run by the down to earth but also a bit messed up Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr) and populated by equally messed up kids. After being sent to a shrink and prescribed ritalin for his zany behaviour, Bartlett has an idea which will finally fulfill his dream of being popular: he’ll sell drugs at the school dance. When this goes down a storm he decides he should take it a step further, but at the same time try and be helpful, thus he starts up a psychology practice in the boys toilets, aided and guarded by the school tough kid.

Now this isn’t a bad premise. Contrived, yes, but also with potential for witty and emotional plot lines and let’s face it they’re the only kind of plot lines ever likely to appear in high school movies. Unless you want to acknowledge the existence of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, in which case you should go and slit your wrists now. Otherwise, read on. The comedy isn’t half bad, and Anton Yelchin manages to be a posh kid, slightly neurotic and have his heart in the right places without being more annoying than… well, than HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. The emotional side of things, the kids with their family issues and the adults with their personal issues are easy to empathise with if slightly too eager too divulge intimate details of their lives to a stranger. Robert Downey Jr helps this side of things with a masterful performance as Principal Gardner, making his overreaction to Bartlett dating his daughter, his inability to cope with the unruly pupils with the school and (less surprisingly) his battle with alcoholism seem perfectly true-to-life with not a whiff of ham to be smelt.

Nonetheless the concept falls short in it’s grand leap to be everything a high school film should be. The characters are too sensitive and attuned to their own problems for it to be a brilliantly funny satire of farce of those DAZED AND CONFUSED days at school, and they are far too self-aware to have the deep-seated issues needing to be dug out that form the bread and butter of any high school drama. A good effort at both, but it just left me a little unsatisfied at the end.