'Snatch' director would take an action-oriented look at Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuth

"Swept Away" and "Revolver" director Guy Ritchie is the latest filmmaker recruited to bring Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes up to speed for the new millennium.

According to the industry trade papers, Warner Bros. is hoping to have Ritchie's take on the classic British sleuth ready for a 2010 release.

Ritchie ("Snatch") is expected to do a rewrite on Tony Peckham's script, which actually uses Lionel Wigram's upcoming comic book as an inspiration, rather than the Doyle texts.

The most recent director attached to the project was "Descent" helmer Neil Marshall, who was also using the Wigram comic for foundation. Wigram's focus is said to be on a more adventurous Holmes, a side taking advantage of the detective's skills boxing and swordfighting. His relationship with sidekick John H. Watson will remain intact.

Doyle introduced the Victorian gumshoe in the story "A Study in Scarlet." The author featured the character in four novels and 56 short stories.

Well over a dozen actors who have played the Holmes character on the big and small screen, a group that includes Peter Cushing, Rupert Everett, Ronald Howard, Jeremy Brett, Christopher Lee, Robert Stephens and, perhaps most iconically, Basil Rathbone.

Ritchie's next film project is the upcoming "RocknRolla."