Screen Time: Guy Ritchie’s ‘Young Sherlock’ Series, Russell Crowe On ‘Gladiator II,’ & More

Welcome to B.H.’s Screen Time, where every week, we’ll give you the cliff notes on what’s happening in the entertainment industry. From various stages of development chatter and our take on the newest releases, to a fun throwback worth revisiting, think of it as an insider’s digest meets movie club.

Coming Soon

Amazon Prime Video has published first-look images of Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock series starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin (in case you were wondering why The Gentlemen season 2 and MobLand season 2 were taking so long).

As you probably figured by the title, it follows the origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective in a re-imagining of the iconic character’s early days. And if it’s anything like the unfairly maligned, Ritchie-fied King Arthur flick, we’re so in.

In Ritchie’s forthcoming adaptation, Sherlock Holmes is a disgraced young man – raw, unfiltered, and an anarchic adolescent yet to evolve into Baker Street’s most renowned resident – when he finds himself wrapped up in a murder case that threatens his liberty. His first-ever case “unravels a globe-trotting conspiracy that changes his life forever… unfolding in 1870s Oxford and adventuring abroad.”

“In Young Sherlock, we’re going to see an exhilarating new version of the detective everyone thinks they know in a way they’ve never imagined before,” said the Snatch filmmaker.

“We’re going to crack open this enigmatic character, find out what makes him tick, and learn how he becomes the genius we all love.”

Tiffin aside – who reunites with Ritchie for the first time since The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – the cast also features Dónal Finn (The Wheel of Time), Zine Tseng (Three Body Problem), Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale), Natascha McElhone (Halo), Max Irons (Condor), and even Colin Firth (The King’s Speech).

Guy Ritchie has juggled directing and executive producing duties. The series has been written and executive produced by showrunner Matthew Parkhill (Deep State, Rogue), along with executive producers Dhana Gilbert, Marc Resteghini, Simon Maxwell, known Ritchie collaborator Ivan Atkinson, Simon Kelton, Colin Wilson, as well as co-executive producers Harriet Creelman and Steve Thompson.

Young Sherlock release date: 2026 (via Amazon Prime Video).

Whether by design or pure coincidence, between Dune: Part III, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and now A24’s The Drama, Robert Pattinson and Zendaya have crafted an informal trilogy of must-watch cinema for 2026/2027 – the latter of which now has a teaser trailer.

The story centres on bookstore clerk Emma Harwood (Zendaya) and museum director Charlie Thompson (Pattinson), whose relationship is “shaken” days before their wedding when one partner discovers “unsettling truths” about the other.

Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, and Zoe Winters also make appearances. This has been written and directed by Dream Scenario filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, and produced by Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid, Eddington) alongside Lars Knudsen and Tyler Campellone.

A24’s The Drama release date (international): April 3rd, 2026.

In the wake of the recent 28 Years Later and the forthcoming follow-up subtitled The Bone Temple – which apparently fielded an “electric” fan reaction during an early screening – Sony is going ahead with a third 28 Years Later movie with franchise screenwriter Alex Garland returning and Cillian Murphy in talks to reprise his role as Jim.

While the Academy Award winner of Oppenheimer fame was an executive producer for the first 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple, shot back-to-back a la The Lord of the Rings, he hasn’t appeared on screen for the iconic zombie survival saga since the 2002 original – [SPOILERS] until a certain closing scene for The Bone Temple.

Nia DaCosta (Candyman), who inherited directing duties from the one and only Danny Boyle for the latest instalment, is also set to helm the next. Standby for further details.

28 Years Later III release date (international): TBA.

Russell Crowe Says What We Were All Thinking About ‘Gladiator II’

With the impossible task of improving upon perfection, Gladiator II left audiences divided. One person who certainly wasn’t entertained, however, was OG franchise star Russell Crowe – who succinctly explained why the sequel starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington fell flat.

“I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud, is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special,” the man behind Maximus Decimus Meridius said during his interview with Triple J (via The Playlist).

“It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”

By all accounts, this was something that Crowe – who famously characterised the script he was provided as “absolute rubbish” – made a priority during the production of Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning original.

He continued: “The thing is, there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character. The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like, ‘You’re taking away his power.’ So, you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”

Of course, despite his best efforts, Maximus’ legacy would be retconned all the same. In a clumsy attempt to connect the sequel to the 2000 film, a central plot point involved Lucius (Mescal) being the love child of Russell Crowe’s iconic character and Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla.

Can’t win ’em all, I suppose. Perhaps in the next life.