Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 period mystery action film starring Robert Downey Jr. as the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin. The screenplay written by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and Simon Kinberg was developed from a story by Wigram and Johnson. In addition to Downey as Holmes, Jude Law portrays Dr. John Watson. The film, set in 1890, follows eccentric detective Holmes and his companion Watson investigating the crimes of Lord Blackwood, a mysticist who has seemingly risen from the dead. Rachel McAdams stars as Holmes' former adversary Irene Adler and Mark Strong portrays villain Lord Henry Blackwood.