Will Ferrell is set to play Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous creation Sherlock Holmes in a new comedy film alongside Step Brothers co-star John C Reilly as John Watson.

According to Deadline, Holmes & Watson will be a little different from Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman’s smart, slick pairing.

John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell will star in Holmes & Watson (Chris Pizzello/AP/PA)John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell will star in Holmes & Watson (Chris Pizzello/AP/PA)

Coming from Etan Cohen, the writer behind Tropic Thunder and Get Hard, this will have a “PG-13 comic bent”.

Will has been attached to the project for a while, but it stalled when Sacha Baron Cohen, who was originally meant to play Watson, dropped out.

While producers Sony haven’t set a release date, it’s set to start filming in the autumn.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock series four (Robert Viglasky/BBC/Hartswood Films)Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock series four (Robert Viglasky/BBC/Hartswood Films)

Will next stars in James Franco’s film Zeroville, while John has a busy slate with Kong: Skull Island coming out next year and a Laurel and Hardy biopic opposite Steve Coogan in the works.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to hold out for Benedict’s Sherlock, with series four expected to return in January 2017.