Downey Jr. not into Cowboys & Aliens

Robert Downey Jr. ends up jumping ship on the latest Jon Farveau directed comic book adaptation Cowboys & Aliens. After being attached to several projects and being a hot commodity acting-wise in Hollywood, Downey Jr. made the snip, leaving Farveau and DreamWorks SKG without a lead. Now the hunt is on to find a suitable replacement as pre-production still treks on. Penning the script is scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The two are producing along with Brian Grazer, Damon Lindelof and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

Originally a serialized graphic novel, “Cowboys & Aliens” focuses on outer-space creatures who land in Arizona circa the mid-19th century intent on enslaving the local population — until a group of cowboys and Apache Indians fight back, says the LA Times. Since Downey Jr. just jumped ship on this project, does that mean that the future of a Sherlock Holmes sequel might be possible and could be happening faster than anticipated? The next time you can see Farveau and Downey Jr. team up on the big screen is in Iron Man 2, coming out in theaters everywhere on May 7th.