Guy Ritchie’s reimagining of Sherlock Holmes may be doing well at the box office both sides of the Atlantic, snapping from the number two spot at Avatar ’s stripy tail.
But a sequel could be strictly off limits if the creative team behind this new version decide to take the lead character into even more homoerotic territory.
In a recent interview with David Letterman, Robert Downey Jr played up the possibilities of a rather more literal bromance between Holmes and Jude Law’s Watson, pondering aloud whether or not Holmes is a “very butch homosexual”.
But his comments didn't amuse Andrea Plunket, who holds the US copyright to the literary Holmes saga.
“I hope this is just an example of Mr Downey's black sense of humour," she says. "It would be drastic, but I would withdraw permission for more films to be made if they feel that is a theme they wish to bring out in the future.
"I am not hostile to homosexuals, but I am to anyone who is not true to the spirit of the books.”
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