Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly have played race car drivers and step brothers, and now they are reteaming to play Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective team.
Ferrell will pick up the magnifying glass to play Sherlock Holmes while Reilly will take on the role of sidekick John Watson in the comedy Holmes & Watson.
Etan Cohen, who recently directed Ferrell in the comedy Get Hard, wrote the script and is set to direct the project for Sony. Cohen’s other credits include the screenplays for Tropic Thunder, Men in Black 3 and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
Holmes & Watson will be produced by Mosaic and Gary Sanchez, Ferrell’s production banner with Adam McKay.
Sanford Panitch, who was just named president of Columbia Pictures in June, was the driving force behind the project, which will be overseen by Jonathan Kadin for Columbia, while Chris Henchy and Jessica Elbaum are overseeing for Gary Sanchez.
Ferrell was last seen on the big screen starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in Daddy’s Home and reprising his role as deranged fashion designer Mugatu in Zoolander 2. Next up, he will co-star with Amy Poehler in the New Line comedy The House.
Reilly, following an appearance in Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, was in the Cannes standout The Lobster. The Oscar nominee will next be seen in Warner Bros.’ Kong: Skull Island and is set to reprise his role in Disney’s sequel to the video game-inspired animation Wreck-It Ralph.
Ferrell is repped by UTA, Mosaic and Jackoway Tyerman; Reilly is repped by WME, Framework and Gender & Kelly.
