First image of Ian McKellen as the 93-year-old detective Mr. Holmes

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I’m usually up to date with my iterations of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, but this one snuck right past me. It's the first image from MR. HOLMES (previously titled A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND) revealing Ian McKellen as a 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes. The film is being directed by Bill Condon (GODS AND MONSTERS, KINSEY) and takes place in 1947, where Holmes is now living in retirement with his housekeeper played by the great Laura Linney and her amateur-sleuthing son.

Here's is the full synopsis:

Centering on the later years in the fictional Holmes’ life, when he retired to Sussex to keep bees, as Doyle’s stories suggested. Mrs. Munro (Linney) serves as something of a caretaker, albeit one with a young son Holmes takes a parental interest in. The story focuses on Holmes grappling with old age and dementia, while remaining obsessed with one unsolved case. It will toggle between decades, depicting Holmes both at age 91 and 63, when he’s working on his final case.

He of course is doing this all without the help of Watson, which makes me a bit sad. Could you imagine Patrick Stewart as Watson? I just giggled. I really loved Guy Ritchie's versions of SHERLOCK HOLMES with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law; as well as the BBC version with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. This aged Sherlock has a lot of potential and the casting is just perfect. McKellen shared the first image of himself in costume on his Twitter, check out the image below followed by some acting lessons from McKellen.