New Photo of Sir Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes in MR. HOLMES
We've got a new photo of Sir Ian McKellen as an aging Sherlock Holmes in an upcoming new movie called Mr. Holmes. We've already seen one image of him, but this one is a still from the actual movie. The film is being directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) and is based on the book A Slight Trick of the Mind.
The book takes place in 1947 and follows a 93-year-old Holmes, who is "long retired to Sussex and his bees and frustrated by his diminishing power of recollection. He believes his bees' royal jelly is part of the secret of his longevity, and his further researches into the subject have recently taken him to post-war Japan. There he encounters the son of a former British diplomat who knew Holmes and disappeared at the start of the war. Holmes doesn't remember, but feels the familiar pull of an unfinished case."
Laura Linney also stars in the film and plays Holmes' housekeeper Mrs. Munro, who is the mother of the boy in the photo above. Doctor Watson is played by Colin Starkey, but apparently he's not in the film much. According to Empire, "Watson is only occasionally and fleetingly mentioned in the novel: long dead by the time of the main story and off with a wife in the flashback section."
This is seriously the perfect role for McKellen to take on, and I'm sure he gives a top-notch performance. Mr. Holmes is set to be released sometime this year, so we'll keep you posted on more information when we get it.