Guy Ritchie may have already screwed the chances of a Sherlock Holmes sequel ever getting off the ground.
Well not Guy himself, but one of the blokes in his movie, a little known actor by the name of Robert Downey Jr. No, we’ve never heard of him either but we expect great things from his career.
Okay, enough New Year’s silliness. According to reports, despite having only just been spanked at the box office by The Over-long, Over-priced Thunder Smurfs movie, the chances of a Sherlock Holmes sequel being made are already in jeopardy. In a recent interview on The Late Show With David Letterman Robert joked about his new movie having a homoerotic subtext, in which characters Holmes and Watson are gay lovers. He also asked the audience whether or not Holmes was in fact “a very butch homosexual.” Apparently, a little well-dressed man-on-man love is enough to ruffle the feathers of the copyright holder.
From The Escapist:
The estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has threatened to kill any potential sequel to the hit film Sherlock Holmes if it suggests that the famous detective and his associate Dr. Watson were secretly gay lovers.
Andrea Plunket, who controls the U.S. copyrights on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories, didn’t appreciate Robert’s particular brand of humour. She states that if the film does portray the men as lovers and if this were the implicit direction of the next movie she would pull the rights – leaving them well scuppered.
From Towerload:
Andrea Plunket, who holds the U.S. copyright to Sherlock Holmes is not happy that Robert Downey Jr. has been joking that the subtext of Holmes and Watson in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is gay. Said Plunket: ?I hope this is just an example of Mr. Downey’s black sense of humour. It would be drastic, but I would withdraw permission for more films to be made if they feel that is a theme they wish to bring out in the future. I am not hostile to homosexuals, but I am to anyone who is not true to the spirit of the books.?
We like slightly skewiff sub-plots as much as the next lot. Avatar has the clumsily tacked-on love story – the point of which is to stop us whimsical lady-types from falling asleep during the multitude of action sequences. Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel subconsciously drains you of the will to live – the point of which we are yet to ascertain. The Princess and the Frog wants to teach viewers about the joys bestiality, with that weird frog kissing bit. And Nine aims to play the movie equivalent of ‘How many actresses can you fit in a mini’.
Back to the thinly veiled, sharply-dressed point. Copyright holder Andrea must not be one of us sophisticated Webbernets people. She seemed to have missed the lulz in Robert’s late night commentary. In spite of the fact that he was probably joking – and even if he weren’t this is a plot twist that might actually make a dull as dishwater pretence worth watching – someone’s probably going to have to say “Sorry”, for all the confusion.
We think Guy and Robert should both tell Andrea to hop it. But quietly. Really quietly. So she doesn’t get her panties in a bunch again, and pull the plug on the whole thing.
This was a guest post by Amy Grindhouse, who rocks worlds wherever she goes.
Follow hecklerspray on Twitter
Gary Thaden says
Ms. Plunkett has claimed the copyright, but her claim has be turned down by the U.S. Federal Courts. Please see for more information:
“The American copyrights are owned by the Estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle. The American agent for administering them, and related rights in the Sherlock Holmes character, is Jon Lellenberg, [email protected].
“A recently created web site for “the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate” represents Andrea Plunket, the former wife of Sheldon Reynolds, producer of the 1954 television series starring Ronald Howard as Holmes. Reynolds controlled the copyrights in the 1950s. Plunket is proprietor of a guest house in Livingston Manor, New York. Her claims to rights in the Sherlock Holmes stories have been repeatedly rejected in U.S. federal court decisions (including Plunket v. Doyle, No. 99-11006, Southern District of New York, February 22, 2001; Pannonia Farms Inc. v. ReMax International and Jon Lellenberg, No. 01-1697, District of Columbia, March 21, 2005). She has also filed a claim to the name “Sherlock Holmes” as a United States trademark, and it too has been turned down.”
Shooty* says
Gary: Too long, did not read.
Long and short: Plunkett is another insane American. She ain’t allowing no homer-sex-u-ality if Jesus don’t be likin’ it. No sirree.