Comic actor Steve Carell is bringing to the silver screen one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s other great heroes.

Actor Steve Carell (The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Get Smart) has been engaged to star in a film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Brigadier Gerard, hero of a series of comic adventure stories set during the Napoleonic Wars.

That will sound a bit odd to those familiar with the stories. Doyle portrays Gerard as brave, handsome, charming, resourceful—and terribly full of himself. The stories are full of action, adventure, romance, and droll, deadpan humor.

Production is expected to begin next spring, with a screenplay by the writers of Blades of Glory. According to the showbiz newspaper Variety, Carell is also considering other films for his hiatus after finishing filming season five of The Office.

The Variety article suggests that Carell’s Gerard may well owe more to Inspector Clousseau than to Doyle’s Gerard:

Carell will play the title character, the bravest soldier in Napoleon’s army and also the dumbest.

It will be unfortunate if the character is introduced to modern audiences through such a bastardized version, but perhaps it will drive one or two hardy souls to the original stories.

Which they will no doubt find disappointingly intelligent and charming.