The long-awaited Sherlock Holmes 3 is finally addressed amid reports of two new Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes spinoff shows. Based on the iconic detective stories from author Arthur Conan Doyle, Downey Jr. teamed with director Guy Ritchie for 2009's Sherlock Holmes. The movie, which co-stars Jude Law as Holmes' partner, Watson, was a big hit with audiences, earning over $524 million worldwide. The sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released in 2011 and, despite similar box office numbers, proved more divisive among fans and critics.
Although Downey Jr. seems more than willing to reprise his role as Holmes, a third movie has been stuck in development hell for more than a decade. The film was originally slated for release in 2020 but was bumped to 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a release date that has since come and gone. Dexter Fletcher, who was set to direct the third movie, announced in 2020 that Sherlock Holmes 3 was on hold "indefinitely" and updates have been hard to come by since. News finally emerged today, however, that Downey Jr. is developing two Sherlock Holmes spinoff shows for HBO Max.
With the announcement of the two spinoff shows, many fans are undoubtedly curious about what these projects signal about the progress of Sherlock Holmes 3. In their same report announcing the Sherlock Holmes HBO Max shows, THR provides a brief update on the threequel, revealing that, essentially, the project is still on hold. The report simply claims that "a third movie in the franchise was in development but never moved beyond that stage."
The report provides no further updates on the movie and the statement implies that nothing has changed since Fletcher's comments in 2020. Interestingly, however, Downey Jr., who is slated to produce the upcoming Sherlock Holmes HBO Max shows alongside his wife and producing partner Susan Downey, revealed plans for the shows back in 2020 amid ambitions to create a Sherlock Holmes extended universe of sorts. The pair previously announced that the shows would focus on new characters that would be introduced in Sherlock Holmes 3 but, with no plot details about the shows having been released thus far, it's unclear if this is still the case.
Fans of Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes franchise have now been waiting over ten years for the third movie and the recent announcement of the spinoff shows has raised more questions than answers. The indefinite delay of Sherlock Holmes 3 in late 2020 due to the pandemic is understandable but now, as things are getting back to normal for the movie industry, many fans will likely be wondering whether the movie will soon move forward. With both Downey Jr. and Law having previously expressed interest in reprising their roles and with the franchise having proven itself profitable for Warner Bros., it's not unreasonable to assume that Sherlock Holmes 3 will eventually come to fruition – it just looks like fans will have to wait a little longer.
Source: THR