Strictly speaking not on topic, but saw this today.
Jonny Lee Miller takes on Frankenstein co-star in US Sherlock Holmes updateActor who alternated roles on stage with Benedict Cumberbatch will play version of same Conan Doyle character in Elementary
Mark Sweney
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 February 2012 19.35 GMT Article history
Last year Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch shared a prestigious theatre award after alternating the lead roles in a West End production of Frankenstein.
Now they are sharing a role again, after Miller was cast as Sherlock Holmes in a US series that brings the legendary detective up to date – just as Cumberbatch's hit BBC show does.
Miller, who first rose to prominence in Trainspotting, will portray the fictional detective in a pilot called Elementary for the US network CBS.
Like the BBC's Sherlock, Elementary will have a contemporary setting, with Miller playing a New York-based Holmes tackling updated versions of the detective's traditional cases.
He will have a tough act to follow, with Cumberbatch's performance in the BBC's contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, co-created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, winning plaudits in the UK and US and helping propel him towards Hollywood star status.
Cumberbatch will play the villain in the next Star Trek movie and is also providing the voices of Smaug the dragon and the Necromancer in Peter Jackson's two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit.
Miller and Cumberbatch shared the best actor award in November at the London Evening Standard theatre awards for their performances in last year's National Theatre production of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, with the pair alternating the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. The play also reunited Miller with Trainspotting director Danny Boyle.
Miller was last seen on US TV in eight episodes of serial killer drama Dexter as a motivational speaker called Jordan Chase in 2010. He has also starred in ABC's primetime soap Eli Stone and played Mr Knightley in an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma in 2009.
He has two films coming out this year, including Tim Burton's new horror movie Dark Shadows and a thriller, Byzantium, which co-stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan.
Doyle's detective character is no longer protected under copyright law – Guy Ritchie has taken Holmes to the big screen recently in two action movie outings starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.
However, if the US version were to too closely mimic the BBC's modern take, there could be cause for legal action. Sherlock is aired in the US by public service broadcaster PBS.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/feb/15/sherlock-holmes-jonny-lee-miller