Ritchie: 'I'm making Holmes to be popular'

Guy Ritchie has admitted that he took the Sherlock Holmes directing job in order to show that he can make accessible films.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the British director acknowledged that Holmes will attract a bigger audience than his previous movies, which include Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla.

"I've spent too much time messing around in inaccessible, esoteric material," he remarked. "I've never had my day in popular court. Sherlock Holmes will allow me to express my accessible side."

Ritchie added that his earliest memories of Holmes came from listening to audio tapes of the detective's exploits.

"My first recollection of Holmesian narrative was at boarding school when I was very young," he said. "They had these tapes of old stories that were a reward for not making too much noise in the dormitory."

Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr as the famed Baker Street sleuth and Jude Law as his sidekick Watson, opens in cinemas on December 26.

> Trailer: Sherlock Holmes