From the start, we’ve known that Guy Ritchie‘s upcoming new vision of Sherlock Holmes was being built up with hopes of it becoming a huge franchise. Not to waste any time, Warner Brothers has brought in Kieran and Michele Mulroney to begin scripting the sequel an entire three months before the first film is released in theaters.

The move is pretty interesting, to say the least. The first movie was written by Michael Robert Johnson and Anthony Peckham, both of which had little experience: Peckham has a few credits including Don’t Say A Word, while Sherlock is Johnson’s first and only credit. This new pair of writers doesn’t seem to have much more experience with a few lesser-known titles and a handful of small acting roles. This is a move that could possibly lead people to believe that producers were not happy with the first movie and are looking to improve with the second. There’s a chance that Johnson and Peckham just had other projects lined up, but with this being set up as said franchise, that’s unlikely.

UPDATE: MTV spoke to Guy Ritchie, who did confirm that the character of Moriarty will be in the movie somehow. It’s still very doubtful that it will be Brad Pitt in the role, but Ritchie did say the actor would be uncredited. This means we have a Kevin Spacey in Se7en situation which will see some sort of big reveal in the very brief moments we see the character in. No complaints here, those are always fun.

A huge rumor set fire to the ‘net yesterday, claiming that Brad Pitt had joined the cast of Guy Ritchie‘s Sherlock Holmes as suspiciously-missing Moriarty. The report came from London’s not-so-trustworthy tabloid, The Daily Mirror, and within hours, Warner Brothers had issued a statement denying the report.

No word yet on if the well-known villain will be cast at all in the movie. Considering it’s an origins movie and they have a villain in Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), one would assume that if Pitt (or someone like him) was cast as Moriarty, they would likely show up in Nick Fury fashion, at the end or after the credits, in order to set up the sequel. We already know that this has every intention of becoming a franchise, so it would make sense to do. Better yet, the statement issued by Warner Bros. confirms that they will be shooting some extra scenes for the movie, though they are still planning a Christmas Day 2009 release. So while the Brad Pitt report is completely false, it wouldn’t be shocking if they were putting together some kind of Moriarty introduction cameo.

Click on over to the other side to read WB’s statement.

No one can deny that Robert Downey Jr was the hit of Hall H at the San Diego Comic-Con last weekend at both the Iron Man 2 panel and the one for the Warner Bros. upcoming reboot Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Check out the images from the panel, as well as a description of the new footage shown here below.

Foregoing the usual introduction by the moderator, Downey strut onto the stage unannounced, a most pleasant entrance for the audience, and began to explain the Sherlock Holmes character, created 122 years ago by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Downey explained the Holmes was actually the first superhero and an intellectual one at that, and has grown to become most of the most recognizable figures on Earth.

Downey was joined on the panel by producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey (also Robert Downey’s wife), producer/co-writer Lionel Wigram (who created the comic book spec for the film), and Downey’s co-star Rachel McAdams, who plays Irene Alder, Holmes’ love interest and the only women to ever bested the detective.

The panelists made it clear that while making the film, whenever they were in doubt about a situation, they would always go back to Doyle’s source material to see what Doyle said the characters said and how the characters described one another.

The Daily Mail has obtained a few great paparazzi photographs from the set of Ridley Scott‘s epic retelling of Robin Hood. The shots show a legion of King John’s men crossing a stone bridge in what looks like some sort of attack or battle. No stars, and not the highest of quality shots, but just looking at them, you can easily tell that we’re in for a treat when this movie is finished.

As we all know, the movie tells the classic tale of Robin Hood, but this time around, it will be handled much more realistically. No word exactly on what to expect, but assume this adventure will have a real Kingdom of Heaven feel and look to it, but with the legendary Robin of Loxley as the center piece.

The film is currently shooting in the U.K. and is set for a released on May 14, 2010.

Click over to the other side for the set pictures!

The much-anticipated first trailer for Guy Ritchie‘s Sherlock Holmes has finally been released to the masses courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

We all knew this was probably going to be a fun movie, but I have to admit, it looks even better than I expected. It has a great feel to it and they definitely nailed the 1800s action I was hoping for. It also shows off some of the humor we can expect to see. Along with the look of a great new Sherlock Holmes adventure, you definitely can sense the touch of Guy Ritchie — it absolutely looks like one of his worlds.

The movie is a new, fast-paced re-envisioning of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle character with a lot more action fueling the story than any Sherlock fan has ever been used to. This is the first movie in what’s hoping to become a new successful franchise; telling the origins of Sherlock Holmes, his work, and his trusty right-hand man, Watson.

Click over to see the new trailer.