The guy isn’t stopping,  He blew out the summer opening when Iron Man was an instant hit, he has Tropic Thunder releasing this same summer on August 15th.  And now he’s in final negotiations to be Sherlock in this new film.  We get wind of this through are happy handymen and women over at Yahoo:

Robert Downey Jr., riding high at the box office with “Iron Man,” is in final negotiations to play Sherlock Holmes in director Guy Ritchie’s movie about the super sleuth.  Ritchie’s version takes its cue from a forthcoming comic book that producer Lionel Wigram wrote as a selling tool for a new take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic character. The concept sees Holmes as more adventurous and less stuffy than previous screen incarnations and mines more obscure character traits.  Downey came onto the project via his wife, Susan, who works for one of the film’s producers, Joel Silver. When the actor was in Silver’s Warner-based offices, the producer showed him Ritchie’s version of Holmes, sparking Downey’s interest.”Sherlock Holmes” will start shooting in the fall; Warner Bros. is eyeing an October 2009 release.

If Guy Ritchie is helming this project and Robert Downey Jr. is leading the role, this could be a knock out for next year.  FYI Columbia pictures also has a Sherlock Holmes in production for release around the same time starring Will Ferrel as Sherlock’s sidekick Watson and Sasha Baron Cohen as Sherlock.  Which one do you think if put in the ring together will come out victorious?