Cohen, Ferrell Feel Right at Holmes With Apatow

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Cohen, Ferrell Feel Right at Holmes With Apatow

Tue., Jul. 1, 2008 9:42 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

JohnShearer/WireImage.com

Here's an elementary bit of casting.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell are set to star as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the latest addition to the Judd Apatow canon, a comedy inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of the brilliant pipe-smoking sleuth and his reliable partner in crime solving.

Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen is penning the script for Columbia Pictures. Apatow and manager Jimmy Miller will produce.

"Just the idea of Sacha and Will as Sherlock Holmes and Watson makes us laugh," studio copresident Matt Tolmach told Variety. "Sacha and Will are two of the funniest and most talented guys on the planet, and having them take on these two iconic characters is frankly hilarious."

The funnymen last acted together—and memorably made out in—Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which earned them an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.

Ferrell, who has very few sports left to skewer on the big screen, will return to theaters July 25 in the Apatow-produced Step Brothers, while Cohen is currently shooting Bruno, featuring the flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter character he cooked up for British television. Presuming no one goes on strike, Bruno is slated for a May 15, 2009, release.