Robert Downey, Jr. has reinvented himself from ‘Hollywood bad boy’ to action hero as Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. Now, he may become the next Harrison Ford with another potential franchise, as the actor is planning a big-screen remake of Perry Mason.
The creation of author Erle Stanley Gardner, the criminal defense attorney has been the main protagonist throughout novels, short stories, and several film adaptations. But he was forever immortalized on CBS thanks to Fred Steiner’s “Park Avenue Beat” as the theme song and Raymond Burr, who played the role for nine years (1957-1966) and in a series of NBC movies throughout the mid-1980s until his death in 1993.
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The news first broke by Variety, who also reported that the film is going to remain true to the books and will be set in the 1930s in Los Angeles with Mason, his long-time secretary/friend Della Street, private investigator Paul Drake, and district attorney Hamilton Burger, who always lose to Mason in the end.
However, that case will remain pending, as Downey is back on the beat in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which comes out December 16. He’s currently working on next summer’s The Avengers, which released its first official trailer Tuesday, and will suit up for Iron Man 3, which is currently scheduled for release in the summer of 2013.
