Robert Downey Jr. release year for his role in "Tropic Thunder". The first role Downey accepted after "Iron Man" was the title character in Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes". Warner Bros. released it on December 25, 2009. The film set several box office records in the United States for a Christmas Day release, beating the previous record holder, 2008's "Marley & Me", by nearly $10M, and finished second to "Avatar" in a record-setting Christmas weekend box office. "Sherlock Holmes" ended up being the 8th highest-grossing film of 2009. When Downey won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2008 and "I've Loved You So Long" • France/Germany Runners-Up: "Doubt" – John Patrick Shanley and "Frost/Nixon" – Peter Morgan Runners-Up: Josh Brolin – "Milk", Robert Downey Jr. – "Tropic Thunder" and Philip Seymour Hoffman – "Doubt" Runners-Up: Penélope Cruz – "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and Viola Davis – "Doubt" Runners-Up: "Continental, a Film Without Guns (Continental, un film sans fusil)" and "Up the Yangtze" Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2008 The 12th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2008, were given on December 17, 2008. Runners-Up: Sean Penn – "Milk" and Jean-Claude Van Damme – "JCVD"