NOTE: Update at the bottom of story.
Although the Daily Mirror isn’t always the most reliable of sources for entertainment news, they’re reporting that reshoots are taking place for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, to put Brad Pitt into the movie as the infamous Professor Moriarty. According to them, and it should be noted there are no named sources for the Mirror’s story, studio executives were upset over the lack of Holmes’ famous nemesis in the film, and ordered more scenes featuring the villain to be inserted.
Ritchie has allegedly managed to convince Snatch star Pitt to join the movie as Moriarty and 10 extra day of shooting have now been added, with Jude Law (Watson) and Robert Downey Jr. (Holmes) possibly needed for a couple of those days.
Although at first it all sounds a little far-fetched, it is just about possible. The Sherlock Holmes script does apparently mention Moriarty as Holmes’ nemesis (although the main villain is Mark Strong’s Lord Blackwood). Earlier rumours suggested the character would only have a tiny cameo in the movie, setting things up for a possible sequel. While this mini-appearance could be what Pitt is filming, it’s not impossible that if Moriarty is a sort of behind-the-scenes puppet master in Ritchie’s movie, they could add a few more scenes featuring the character without screwing up everything else that’s already in the can.
Although we await confirmation on what role, if any, Brad Pitt, will have in Sherlock Holmes, it’s an interesting idea to have such a major movie star playing one of fiction’s most notorious villains.
Sherlock Holmes is out in the UK on December 26th.
UPDATE: Empire is reporting that Warner Bros is categorically denying Pitt’s involvement in the movie, which is kind of a shame as we were warming to the idea.