Sherlock Holmes sequel in pipeline

While we've all been busy praying that Guy Ritchie's cockney criminal take on Sherlock Holmes won't be a laughable shitfest, Warner Bros has already announced that plans for a sequel are afoot.

While this depends on the film's box office success (note: not critical success) when it is released on Boxing Day, the fact that Warner Bros are planning a second instalment already shows that they are prepared to take quite the gamble on this possible franchise.

And, since the announcement, familiar-sounding rumours are flying that Brad Pitt is in talks to play the great detective's arch-nemesis Moriarty in the sequel.

While this speculation seems fuelled solely by the fact that Pitt and Ritchie have worked together before (on Snatch - that's it), it's elementary that Warner Bros would be chasing such a big name for the role anyway.

It would also be quite the coup - the thought of Pitt and Downey Jr spending a film playing a wicked-smart game of cat and mouse sounds pretty cool, even if it does give Jude Law's Watson not much to do but stroke his 'tache and play with his smelling salts.

In the meantime though, we just have to hope that the upcoming first film is good enough to warrant such an idea. Needless to say if the movie bombs, Warner Bros will permanently shelve any embarrassing plans for a sequel and file them under "What Were We Thinking?"