# Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
**Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows** is a 2011 action-mystery film directed by [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie) and the sequel to *Sherlock Holmes* (2009), in which [Robert Downey Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-downey-jr)'s Sherlock Holmes and [Jude Law](https://www.edgepedia.org/jude-law)'s Dr. Watson pursue Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris), a criminal mastermind portrayed as the detective's intellectual equal, across Europe.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/) It was released theatrically on December 16, 2011, runs 129 minutes, and was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | December 16, 2011 (wide, United States); 129 minutes; PG-13[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) |
| Director / writers | Guy Ritchie; screenplay by Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/68328) |
| Principal cast | Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), Jude Law (Dr. John Watson), Noomi Rapace (Madam Simza Heron), Jared Harris (Professor James Moriarty), Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) |
| Box office | $543,848,418 worldwide: $186,848,418 domestic (34.4%) and $357,000,000 international; $39,637,079 domestic opening[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1515091/) |
| Critical reception | 60% Tomatometer from 224 reviews and 77% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 48 (mixed or average) on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/) |
| Production | Warner Bros. with Village Roadshow Pictures, Silver Pictures, and Wigram Productions; producers Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/68328) |
| Music | Score by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, who won an ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
When Austria's crown prince is found dead, the evidence points to suicide, but Holmes deduces that the prince was murdered and that the killing is one piece of a puzzle designed by [Professor Moriarty](https://www.edgepedia.org/professor-moriarty). Holmes and Watson, accompanied by a Gypsy woman whose life Holmes saved, chase Moriarty across Europe hoping to thwart his plot before it can come to fruition.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) The film's promotional synopsis frames the confrontation as a contest between equals: Moriarty is not only Holmes' intellectual match, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may give him an advantage over the detective.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/)
Moriarty had lurked in the background of the 2009 film and steps to the fore here as the central antagonist.[6](https://www.eauk.org/idea/a-game-of-shadows.cfm) [Irene Adler](https://www.edgepedia.org/irene-adler), played by [Rachel McAdams](https://www.edgepedia.org/rachel-mcadams), dies within the first ten minutes of the film, tricked into ingesting a poison by Moriarty; she leaves behind a bloodied handkerchief that Moriarty delivers to Holmes.[7](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/fe5fe911-ac61-4f37-9b53-8acc7aa13e2f/content) The story is set in 1891, one year after the events of the first film.[8](https://portal.munimolina.gob.pe/descargas/pdf/guia_molinaCard/Guia_vpMolinaCard_2012/guia_vpmc_ed_03.pdf)
## Production
The film reunited the core team of the 2009 hit. Guy Ritchie directed from a screenplay by the married writing team Michele and Kieran Mulroney, with [Joel Silver](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-silver), Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and [Dan Lin](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-lin) producing.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/68328) Philippe Rousselot was the cinematographer, [James Herbert](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-herbert) the editor, and Sarah Greenwood the production designer.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/68328) The supporting cast included Stephen Fry as Holmes's brother Mycroft and Eddie Marsan, alongside Noomi Rapace in her first major English-language studio role as the fortune-teller Simza Heron.[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-12a-6277530.html) • [10](https://nowplayer.now.com/ondemand/detail?id=201205080027496&nodeId=C201407030000011&type=product)
## Box office
The film opened to $39,637,079 domestically on the weekend of December 16, 2011, and finished with $186,848,418 in the United States and Canada, 34.4% of its total.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1515091/) [International business](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-business) supplied the remaining 65.6%, $357,000,000, for a worldwide total of $543,848,418.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1515091/) Its largest international markets included Russia/CIS ($28,368,113), the United Kingdom ($42,159,124), Italy ($24,533,562), Japan ($22,772,632), and Australia ($20,998,519).[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1515091/) The predecessor had made over $500 million worldwide two years earlier, a result that, as *The Independent* put it, rendered arguments about Ritchie's trivialisation of the character largely irrelevant.[9](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-12a-6277530.html)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 60% Tomatometer from 224 reviews against a 77% audience score from more than 100,000 ratings; the site's critics consensus calls it "a good yarn thanks to its well-matched leading men" that "overall stumbles duplicating the well-oiled thrills of the original."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) On Metacritic it scored 48, with 10 positive, 23 mixed, and 5 negative reviews among 38 counted.[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/critic-reviews/)
Individual reviews divided along similar lines. Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* gave it an 88, advising readers to set aside the Conan Doyle stories and enjoy the film as high-caliber entertainment, while *Empire* scored it 80 and called it "bigger, better, funnier, without stretching the joke."[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/critic-reviews/) The *Washington Post* found the dialogue sharper than the 2009 film's and praised Moriarty as a worthy opponent.[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/critic-reviews/) Negative notices included *The New Yorker*'s verdict that the film "makes a mockery of Holmes's vaunted deductive reasoning," and a common criticism that, unlike the first film, there is little actual mystery or puzzle-solving.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows) The forest chase away from an arms factory is frequently singled out by admirers as a highlight; one retrospective review called it one of the best action scenes in cinema.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows)
At industry awards the film received two Saturn Award nominations (Best Action/Adventure Film and Best Costumes for Jenny Beavan), three Teen Choice nominations, an Empire Award nomination for Best Thriller, and a Visual Effects Society nomination; it won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Action TV Spot and the Russian National Movie Awards' Georges Award for Best Foreign Action of the Year.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/awards/)
## The unfinished sequel
No third film has followed. Warner Bros. officially announced *Sherlock Holmes 3* in May 2018 with a planned Christmas 2020 release, and in March 2019 moved the date to December 22, 2021, which would have marked a full decade after *A Game of Shadows*. Variety reported in 2019 that [Dexter Fletcher](https://www.edgepedia.org/dexter-fletcher) was attached to direct after Ritchie's exit, but the plan did not come to pass and the project has remained in development limbo.[12](https://thedirect.com/article/sherlock-holmes-3-movie-robert-downey-jr-sequel) In a 2024 interview, Jude Law said a new script existed that discarded an earlier version involving time travel, and that he and Downey remained interested in returning.[13](https://as.com/meristation/cine/jude-law-da-esperanzas-sobre-sherlock-holmes-3-robert-downey-jr-podria-volver-a-ser-el-mejor-detective-del-mundo-n/) As of 2026 the film is again returning to streaming services, with ComingSoon noting its status as Downey's $543.3 million hit outside the Marvel franchise.[14](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2211612-robert-downey-jr-sherlock-holmes-2-hbo-max-release-date)
## References
1. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_holmes_a_game_of_shadows)
2. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/)
3. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/68328)
4. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1515091/)
5. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/awards/)
6. [Idea: A Game of Shadows, EAUK](https://www.eauk.org/idea/a-game-of-shadows.cfm)
7. [Demonstrating the Woman: Irene Adler in adaptation, York University thesis](https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/fe5fe911-ac61-4f37-9b53-8acc7aa13e2f/content)
8. [Guía de estrenos 2012, Municipalidad de Molina](https://portal.munimolina.gob.pe/descargas/pdf/guia_molinaCard/Guia_vpMolinaCard_2012/guia_vpmc_ed_03.pdf)
9. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (12A), review by Anthony Quinn, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows-12a-6277530.html)
10. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Now TV](https://nowplayer.now.com/ondemand/detail?id=201205080027496&nodeId=C201407030000011&type=product)
11. [Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows critic reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sherlock-holmes-a-game-of-shadows/critic-reviews/)
12. [Sherlock Holmes 3 Writer Addresses If Robert Downey Jr.'s Sequel Is Still Happening, The Direct](https://thedirect.com/article/sherlock-holmes-3-movie-robert-downey-jr-sequel)
13. [Jude Law da esperanzas sobre 'Sherlock Holmes 3', AS](https://as.com/meristation/cine/jude-law-da-esperanzas-sobre-sherlock-holmes-3-robert-downey-jr-podria-volver-a-ser-el-mejor-detective-del-mundo-n/)
14. [Robert Downey Jr.'s Non-Iron Man $543M Hit Returns To Streaming, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2211612-robert-downey-jr-sherlock-holmes-2-hbo-max-release-date)
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