Trivia / Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

• Actor-Inspired Element: Robert Downey Jr.. came up with the idea for the disguise as a cross-dresser, which was originally a priest. Whether Downey knew it or not, in "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" Holmes is in fact said to have disguised himself as an old woman.
• Deleted Scene: The part in the opening with the bomb attack in the city of Strasbourg, France (which was filmed there). More footage has been filmed than the ten seconds that made it to the screen, on the whole square around the cathedral which was redecorated in Imperial Germany fashion (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were even confirmed to be present, causing crowds to gather around the set). The very short scene focuses only the cathedral seen from the Mercière street and then the explosion without either Holmes, Watson or the rest of the square appearing onscreen.
• Development Hell: The third film has been long delayed due to a variety of reasons including but not limited to: Creative Differences, Downey and Law's conflicting schedules with their other franchise commitments, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Fake Nationality: Noomi Rapace, a Swedish actress, plays Simza, a French gypsy, though Rapace might have some Roma ancestry through her Spanish father.
• The Other Darrin: Jared Harris as Moriarty, in a way. Since, technically, he appeared always in shadow in the first movie and was played by dialect coach Andrew Jack in an uncredited role. In subsequent TV airings of the first film, Harris was brought in to re-dub Jack's lines to give it continuity with the second film.
• Promoted Fanboy: Stephen Fry has been an avid Sherlock Holmes fan since childhood.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Javier Bardem, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Sean Penn were considered to play Moriarty.
  • Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Eva Green, Sophie Marceau and Audrey Tautou were considered to play Sim.
  • The original plot of the film was initially different going by the initial press release. The death of an Austrian Royal was to be the catalyst for the film's plot, but for whatever reason this was changed.
    "When Austria's crown prince is found dead, evidence seems to point to suicide. However, detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) deduces that the prince was murdered and that the crime is but a piece of a puzzle designed by an evil genius named Moriarty (Jared Harris). Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson (Jude Law), who are accompanied by a Gypsy (Noomi Rapace) whose life Holmes saved, chase Moriarty across Europe in the hope that they can thwart his plot before it can come to fruition."

---