New Sherlock Holmes Adaptation Reveals Cast & Unique Moriarty Plot Twist

New casting and plot details have emerged about the new Sherlock Holmes adaptation focused on James Moriarty, the arch-nemesis of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective character.

Moriarty Rising: A Sherlock Holmes Tale was announced towards the end of June, with the project hailing from Former Prodigy Media, Alation Media, and Portrait Pictures. Less than two months later, the upcoming project has finished filming in Turin, Italy, in partnership with Greif Produktion SRL. To mark this milestone, ScreenRant can exclusively reveal who will star in Moriarty Rising and what the present day-set story will be about, which includes this version of the criminal mastermind hailing from the United States.

Ethan Vaughan will portray Moriarty in the mystery thriller, while Ford Leland and Ciaran Cresswell have been cast as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, respectively. The leading trio is accompanied by a supporting cast that includes Rita Pilato as Lucia Rossi, Moriarty Rising’s femme fatale; Constanza Ruff as Rossi’s loyal enforcer Marcella Blanco; Jayne Kimberley Bloom as Professor Francesca Lombroso; Nathan Wiley as Mycroft Holmes; Christopher Jones as The Rector; and Fjodor Olev as Sebastian Moran.

Below are the first looks at Vaughan’s Moriarty, Leland’s Sherlock, and Cresswell’s Watson in Moriarty Rising, which is being developed as both a premium vertical drama series and a standalone feature film:

Moriarty Rising: A Sherlock Holmes Tale depicts Moriarty as a gifted American mathematics student who travels to Turin, Italy to study under Professor Lombroso, who’s a descendant of the legendary criminologist Cesare Lombroso. Unbeknownst to Moriarty, Sherlock has also come to Turin for continuing education. While both men are separately learning about human behavior, Moriarty uses his knowledge to manipulate fear, greed and desire to orchestrate seemingly ordinary people into committing the perfect crime, while Sherlock discovers patterns tying together a series of mysterious incidents unfolding across campus.

After a priceless diamond necklace belonging to pop star Natty (Tiffany Alexander) is stolen from the MAUTO, the National Automotive Museum in Turin, Sherlock takes it upon himself to learn who pulled off the crime and how they did it despite the presence of security, cameras, and hundreds of witnesses. He subsequently discovers a hidden world of student escorts, political blackmail and art forgery, which is allegedly controlled by Rossi. By the time Sherlock and Moriarty cross paths, the former is certain the latter stole the necklace, but he can’t prove how he did so.

As previously announced, Shortcut and The Boat's Alessio Liguori directs Moriarty Rising: A Sherlock Holmes Tale, and Oliver Draiv wrote the script. With principal photography over, the aforementioned production companies have tapped Turin-based ALPS Studios to handle Moriarty Rising’s visual effects and post-production. In an official statement, producer Phil Viardo describes this project as “the origin” of Sherlock and Moriarty’s rivalry, “reimagined for a new generation.”

A release date hasn’t been set yet for Moriarty Rising: A Sherlock Holmes Tale. Meanwhile, other upcoming Sherlock Holmes adaptations include Prime Video’s Young Sherlock season 2, The CW’s Sherlock & Daughter season 2, and Sky Television’s The Death of Sherlock Holmes. Enola Holmes 3 was also released on Netflix last month.