It’s official! Deadline is reporting Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law will definitely, absolutely reprise their roles as Holmes and Watson in a third Sherlock Holmes movie.
The as-yet untitled “threequel” will follow 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, both of which cleaned up at the box office and made a third movie look like a certainty.
Robert has been keen, despite his commitment to playing Iron Man in multiple Marvel movies, and Jude too, while director Guy Ritchie has reportedly been signed on to direct since 2012.
So what’s the hold up? Getting the right script, it seems. Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce was briefly attached, then James Coyne (A Certain Justice), then several top names were gathered together in the same room to forge a story worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There was also the issue of getting the two busy lead actors and director in the same room at the same time, with Robert quipping that the whole thing would have to be filmed over Skype.
Finally, though, Warner Bros. has confirmed the franchise will return, but don’t expect a light-hearted caper. It’ll be written by Chris Brancato, one of the creators behind gangster drama Narcos.
We also have a while to wait before it opens in theaters. Sherlock Holmes 3 won’t be released until Christmas Day 2020, a few days after another long-awaited sequel, Avatar 2, and long after Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown is expected to make her debut as Sherlock’s younger sister Enola Holmes in a new film series.
Sherlock Holmes on-screen adaptations are like buses, it seems; we wait ages for one, and then three come along at once. Fingers crossed we’ll see a return of Sherlock by 2020, too.
Are you excited to see Robert and Jude solve another mystery?