Sherlock Holmes

SHERLOCK HOLMES:

Written by

Michael Robert Johnson,

Anthony Peckham & Simon Kinberg

Sherlock Holmes and Watson characters created by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

September 29, 2008

1.

FADE IN:

1 EXT. STREETS OF LONDON - NIGHT 1

Autumnal streets seen through the sooty glass of a STREET

LAMP. Shadows within shadows. Fog in the air. Full

moon.

WATSON (V.O.)

The year was 1891. London was the

capital of the world -- the height

of modernity, with the hiss of

steam and smell of coal in the

air. It was also the great

cesspool into which all the

sinners and criminals of the

empire drained.

Gas hisses audibly, the street lamp ignites, and casts a

POOL OF LIGHT onto the street, silhouetting a MAN making

his way through the fog and dark shadows with a lantern.

WATSON (V.O.)

I had come to London, ten years

prior, to find a life after the

Afghan war. I had hoped to start

a medical practice and settle into

a nice, steady existence. The

life I found was anything but nice

and steady.

We can see that the MAN wears a cape. The distinctive

silhouette of his deerstalker hat is unmistakable. A

FURIOUS CLATTER OF HOOVES APPROACHES in the distance.

The MAN tugs on a pipe and turns towards the growing

stampede.

WATSON (V.O.)

And that had everything to do with

one man. My friend, my partner,

my burden...

The MAN exhales a plume of smoke calmly, giving us the

impression that he knows something that we don't.

WATSON (V.O.)

... Sherlock Holmes.

WHAM! The MAN in the deerstalker hat is KNOCKED FLAT by

A RUNNING MAN who has vaulted over a wall, sending him,

his pipe, and hat flying across the cobbles.

(CONTINUED)

2.

1 CONTINUED:
1

The RUNNING MAN leans down as if to assist, but instead

just picks up the smoker's broken umbrella and studies

it. The MAN in the deerstalker hat's eyes widen as he

recognizes his famous assailant.

MAN:

Sherlock Holmes?!

SHERLOCK HOLMES offers the handle of the umbrella to the

MAN, hauls him to his feet and hands back his broken

umbrella.

HOLMES:

My apologies. Send the bill to

John Watson, 221B Baker Street.

Sherlock Holmes sprints off down an alleyway. The MAN

takes a step into the road to watch him go --

-- and is nearly flattened for good by the first of a

number of POLICE CARRIAGES, hurtling by on a serious

pursuit, Victorian-style.

2 2

INT. CARRIAGE - CLOSEUP ON THE OFFICERS - NIGHT

inside. Big, uniformed guys assemble their weaponry -- a

19th century SWAT team. One man stands out as a leader,

older than the rest, INSPECTOR LESTRADE.

A man in plainclothes sits to one side of the officers:

DR. JOHN WATSON, physically as tough as anyone else in

the carriage, but with a more pensive air about him. A

thinking man of action.

3 EXT. STREETS OF LONDON - NIGHT 3

Almost tipping over, the carriage turns onto the

Embankment and hurtles through the writhing fog along the

river.

As the carriage banks, we see Holmes cut across the

carriage path again, taking a line the horses cannot

follow.

CUT TO:

ANOTHER ANGLE:

Holmes bursts out of an alley, sprints round a corner and

runs across a courtyard to a side door.

WE PULL BACK to see the FACADE OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.

3.

4 OMITTED 4

5 INT. CATHEDRAL CRYPTS - ENTRANCE - NIGHT 5

Holmes enters through the door and stands at the top of a

stairwell. He takes a moment to recover; he's fit, but

not as fit as he used to be.

Holmes descends the stairwell to a door and a spiral

staircase beyond it. He stops at the doorway and peers

round the corner.

A lantern glow ascends the spiral stairway towards

Holmes. Holmes withdraws into the shadows behind the

door. A BOWLER-HATTED MAN ascends the stairs, carrying

the lantern and a gun.

He peers behind the door and holds the lantern up to the

shadows, but does not see Holmes, who has pulled his

black jacket up to conceal his face. The man swings the

lantern away again. He peers about, confused.

We see Holmes' eyes from the shadows, as he lowers his

jacket and thinks through his plan of attack.

HOLMES (V.O.)

Head cocked to the left, partial

deafness in right ear. First

point of attack.

PRE-VISUALIZATION IN VARI-SPEED

FOCUS ON the spot behind the man's right ear, just at the

top of the jaw -- the most vulnerable point. Holmes

launches a hammer blow, and we ramp from 24 fps to 400

fps (ULTRA SLOW MOTION) as he makes contact. The man's

head is thrown back as he spins round.

HOLMES (V.O.)

Then throat, paralyze vocal

chords, stop screaming.

BACK TO 24 fps. The man's mouth opens to cry out. We

RAMP BACK UP TO 400 fps as his Adam's Apple is struck

with a precision karate chop, strangling his scream.

HOLMES (V.O.)

Stink of alcohol, heavy drinker --

knuckles to liver.

BACK TO 24 fps, RAMPING TO 400 fps as a devastating

knuckle-punch to the liver doubles up the bowler-hatted

thug and crumples him to his knees.

(CONTINUED)

4.

5 CONTINUED:
5

SECOND-TIME ACTION - SUPER FAST REPEAT OF ABOVE

Holmes flashes out of the shadows, moving so fast that we

can barely see what he's doing.

THWACK! Hammer blow to ear.

CRACK! Karate chop to throat.

WHAP! Knuckle punch to liver.

BACK TO NORMAL MOTION as the man crumples to the ground,

Holmes takes his bowler hat from his head and flips it

onto his own in one super fast move.

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