Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes won’t hit the big screen until Christmas, but Warner Bros is already developing a sequel.

According to Risky Business, Kieran and Michele Mulroney have been hired to pen a draft for a continuation. The brother screenwriting team wrote the imaginary Superhero coming-of-middle-age dramedy Paper Man which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and the dumped DC Comics live-action film Justice League: Mortal. Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Lionel Wigram and Simon Kinberg all worked on the screenplay for the first film.

This isn’t surprising news as the project has been groomed as a potential franchise. Last month, it was rumored that Brad Pitt had filmed some scenes as Holmes’ nemesis Moriarty during a set of secret reshoots, but Warner Bros denied these claims. The character does make a brief cameo appearance in the first film, setting up a potential sequel, but those who know claim the character remains in the shadows and cannot be recognized.

We assumed the previous rumor was a complete fabrication but, The Hollywood Reporter now claims that Brad Pitt has in fact had discussions with producers to play Moriarty in the developing sequel, though there is no deal in place as of yet. Pitt starred in Ritchie’s second feature film Snatch.

What do you think about this whole planning a sequel before the film even comes out business? Do you think Brad Pitt would be a good choice for a Sherlock Holmes sequel? And what do you think of the how the film is coming along in the first place?

Personally, I was really interested at first, as I am quite a Guy Ritchie fan, but I will say that all of this footage has done nothing for me yet.