Robert Downey Jr. To Lead 'Perry Mason': 1930s Crime-Solving District Attorney

Looks like "Sherlock Holmes" isn't enough of a crime-solving fix for Robert Downey Jr.

Warner Bros is planning a film revamp of "Perry Mason" series which, according to Variety, Downey is looking to play the district attorney lead and, along with his wife, will also produce the flick.

For those unfamiliar, "Perry Mason" had a lengthy life before being turned into a 1960s television show, starring Raymond Burr. Set against the backdrop of gritty 1930s Los Angeles, it began as a book series by Erle Stanley Gardner, was converted into a radio series and spawned several TV and full-length movies.

The new script is to be based on an original story penned by Downey and executive producer David Gambino. The revamp will keep the fabric of the original series intact with its setting and classic characters like secretary Della Street and the P.I. Paul Drake.

If all goes according to plan, this could turn into another franchise for the actor, alongside "Sherlock Holmes" and "Iron Man."

For a lesser man, we'd be worried.

For more, click over to Variety.

Comments

[bluegardenia4me]

12:51 PM on 10/15/2011

Sounds like a winner! I'll watch it. I love you Robert!

[BeerLover]

10:12 PM on 10/05/2011

This guy just gets better with age......like a fine wine.....and George Clooney.

[jokamachi]

09:07 PM on 10/05/2011

This guy is so cool it isn't funny....

[SimonBao]

08:31 PM on 10/05/2011

Well that's not very clear.

This revamp will keep the fabric of the original BOOK series, or keep the fabric of the original series of TV series?

They were not the same thing, not at all, and 30 years of enormous upheaval and changes in American culture separated the original books from the TV program.

I've read only a few of the Perry Mason novels and honestly, they're probably far too formulaic and procedural to appeal today. MAYBE Downey is enough of a writer to revamp the characters, but I'm skeptical. To the best of my knowledge, Downey has no screenwriter credits.

[abuckley23]

03:53 PM on 10/05/2011

Whatever keeps him clean and sober...

[onionboy]

03:44 PM on 10/05/2011

Feh on Perry Mason.

Give me Ironside.

[Mr Hoodoo]

03:26 PM on 10/05/2011

Oh no.

I love RDJ. But he was no Sherlock Holmes, as the movies were not good Sherlockian viewing. And I doubt, if the producers follow in those movies' producers' footsteps in going for an over-the-top "blockbuster" that has little to nothing to do with the original characters and stories, then I suspect this movie and RDJ's performance in it will be just as ridiculous as the Sherlock films were.

I love RDJ, but not in his new-found niche as the latest Tom "Mission: Impossible" Cruise/Bruce "Die Hard" Willis over-the-top, over-CGed stuff.

You know you're not doing well when you've become an "action mega-star" in those types of films. Sure, they sell well. But they're an actor's last gasp ond done soley for the mega-bucks.
Hey, Robert. Get back to doing something cool, quirky and unusual again that really allowed you to stretch your acting abilities.