Russell Crowe not Watson

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Posted by Matt Holmes. Last modified on September 2nd, 2008 at 09:53am

I’m not attempting to bring about disrespect to fellow OWF writer James Clayton but I have to state 100% for the record (as I loathe rumors, especially those that hit the bullshit detector on red alert) that Russell Crowe is not Dr. Watson to Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic literary detective character.

It simply ain’t true.

Any news story that appears in The Sun and for that matter any of the absolute bullshit that is flying around for Christopher Nolan and Batman 3 should be disregarded right now because it’s just fanboy gossip.

Russell Crowe will not be Watson because he is Russell Crowe. The leading man. The guy who has one of the biggest ego’s in Hollywood (and with great justification) is not going to play second fiddle to Downey Jr as a bumbling sidekick.

I could have possibly seen him as Moriarty but Guy Ritchie has already found his man in Mark Strong, his frequent collaborator who has starred in his last two movies Revolver and the opening Friday in the U.K. - Rock”N”Rolla.

But what is true is that Crowe is out hunting for a movie that will fill the time before work can begin on Nottingham next Spring with Ridley Scott, when the grass is green again. We know he has been trying to get a Bill Hicks biopic off the ground, that would seem favourite at this point.

When there is something real to discuss about Batman, Sherlock Holmes or anything else… we will talk about it. And if you really can’t get enough of Batman then go and see The Dark Knight again before it leaves theatres, something tells me the character will never get it this good ever again.

This article is sponsored by The Movie Forum

Categories: Guy-Ritchie, Mark Strong, Movie News, Robert-Downey-Jr, Russell-Crowe, Sherlock Holmes

2 Comments »

Elementary of course. Matt “Sherlock” Holmes solves the case and sets the record straight once again!

Aside from the Sun’s story-spinning (we’ll get to that later), I wouln’t necessarily instantly dismiss Crowe as such an all-out ego-tripper who wouldn’t consider playing alongside Robert Downey Jr. He shared star space with Denzel Washington in American Gangster and Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma so it’s not inconceivable. He’s adaptable so it’s not impossible that he would play Dr. Watson in what appears to be a fresh attempt to adapt well-trod turf.

As for the Sun, I did say that the article was “spurious” and you should of course take anything that it says with several liberal pinches of salt. It is definitely an intriguing project with the revitalised Ritchie behind the camera and Downey Jr. in the lead role and I thought I’d flag up what the word and rumour from the mainstream press was on this promising premise. I thought that the prospect of a modern, martial arts-tinged take on the literary legend was worthy of discussion, whether or not the source is suspect and almost certainly bogus.

Comment by James Clayton | September 2, 2008

Besides American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma, which are more like co-leads, Crowe is definitely supporting to Leonardo diCaprio in Body of Lies, coming out next month. I would love to see Crowe and Downey work together, not so sure about this project, though.

Interestingly enough, the Crowe as Watson rumor apparently started with Ritchie himself, albeit inadvertently. Clint Morris, at Moviehole, reported that Ritchie expressed interest in Crowe as Watson during an interview on UK TV a few days ago, so anyone watching that interview could have contacted The Sun. Ritchie got a lesson on the supersonic speed of the internet delivery of rumors.

Comment by Cindy | September 2, 2008