No Comment Department

Sherlock set to buff up | News | Guardian Unlimited Film: "The tumbleweeds that skid across the barren desert of Hollywood creativity showed no sign of letting up yesterday as Warner Bros announced it is reinventing Sherlock Holmes as an action hero.

Neil Marshall, the highly regarded British director of The Descent, has been hired to orchestrate proceedings and transform the erudite sleuth of 221B Baker Street into something a little more rough-hewn.

The story will be adapted from Lionel Wigram's upcoming graphic novel Sherlock Holmes, with the British Wigram set to produce.

Studio executives are keeping mum about the storyline, although it is understood that Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary creation will rely less on tugging pensively on his pipe and employ instead his little known pugilistic skills and swordsmanship to vanquish Victorian villainy.

Holmes' newfound fighting prowess alone will not be enough to overcome his foes, however. In keeping with the vague truism that behind every superhero lurks an older, often mustachioed aide, the producers are pairing up the crime-fighter with a new-look Dr Watson. Elementary, really."