Robert Downey Jr considering retirement?

Robert Downey Jr has claimed that he will consider quitting acting if his upcoming film Sherlock Holmes flops.

However, the actor admitted that he may follow rapper Jay-Z's lead, by announcing his retirement before later returning.

He told Entertainment Weekly: "I can only be a guy on a call sheet probably, I don't know, maybe a couple more times. It's something I'm so grateful to have in my palm, and yet I already see its inevitable decay.

"If Sherlock Holmes performs well, I could be busy for the next five or seven or ten years."

The star added: "But we'd like to go ahead and suggest the Jay-Z model wherein one announces his retirement, soaks in all the requisite fanfare, and then behaves like it never happened. It's really the best of both worlds."

> Video preview: 'Sherlock Holmes'