Yes, the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective and his military doctor best pal haven't exactly gone un-adapted, especially of late. But Sony clearly thinks that Ferrell and Reilly could provide a new comedy spin. Etan Cohen, who last directed Ferrell in Get Hard, will call the shots here after having written the script. His previous directing credit may not inspire confidence, and we're slightly sorry to see it's not Adam McKay in the big chair, but perhaps the combination of Sherlock and silliness will help.
And if this sparks a memory of a previous project in your brain that linked Ferrell to the Holmes world, you're not misremembering: he was attached to star as Watson in a version back in 2008 alongside Nights' Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes, and that has indeed evolved into this movie, which sees Ferrell promoted to wear the deerstalker. The plan is for shooting to start in late November/early December.