Although the death of Tony Stark was devastating for moviegoers, it did wonders for Robert Downey, Jr.’s other franchises. He’s starting off a Dr. Dolittle reboot series next year and Warner Bros. have announced a third movie in his Sherlock Holmes franchise.

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Downey’s last movie in the role of the iconic Victorian detective was released before the Avengers assembled at the end of the MCU’s Phase 1, after which Downey found himself pretty busy, so the threequel has been a long time coming. With a director hired and a release date set, here's what we know so far about Sherlock Holmes 3.

Updated on May 25th, 2020 by Ben Sherlock: Now that his commitments to Marvel have come to an end and his recent reboot of the Dr. Dolittle franchise crashed and burned pretty horribly, Robert Downey, Jr. is free to return to the role of Sherlock Holmes. With Iron Man dead, all of Downey’s eggs are in the Sherlock Holmes basket. On the way to the threequel’s 2021 release date, Warner Bros. has released a few extra details about the movie, so we’ve updated this list with some new information.

There’s No Trailer

SHerlock Holmes Movie Robert Downey Jr

As of yet, we don’t have a teaser trailer or regular theatrical trailer for Sherlock Holmes 3. It’s not like Warner Bros. is holding out on us. Production hasn’t yet begun, so there’s no footage to make a trailer from. Marketing for the threequel is still a few months away, but we’ll get a trailer in due time.

It’ll Be (At Least Partly) Shot In California

The cast of Sherlock Holmes including Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams

The production of Sherlock Holmes 3 has been approved for a $20.9 million tax break by the California Film Commission. This is with an estimated production budget of $107.8 million, which is right in the sweet spot between the first movie’s $90 million price-tag and A Game of Shadows’ $125 million price-tag.

So, at least part of the filming for Sherlock Holmes 3 will take place in California, possibly confirming rumors that the movie is a western (or, at least, that it will have elements of a western).

The Team Is Working From Chris Brancato’s Script

Robert Downey Jr from Sherlock Holmes

A bunch of different writers have worked on the script for Sherlock Holmes 3. A couple of years ago, the producers even put together a writers’ room in the hopes that a whole team of scribes would be able to hammer out a draft that they were happy with.

As far as we know, Warner Bros. and the team are working from a draft that was written by Chris Brancato. Brancato’s previous writing credits include episodes of The X-Files, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Narcos, so he’s used to slotting events into ongoing storylines.

Peaky Blinders Star Paul Anderson Has Joined The Cast

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law will be joined on the silver screen by Paul Anderson, who has been cast in Sherlock Holmes 3. Anderson is best known for playing Arthur Shelby, the hard-as-nails oldest sibling in the Shelby clan, in the acclaimed historical crime series Peaky Blinders.

The actor will be reprising his role as Moriarty cohort Colonel Sebastian Moran, who he first played in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Moriarty Will Probably Return

Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows Moriarty

The casting of Paul Anderson to reprise his role as Colonel Sebastian Moran, who was a close associate of Holmes’ arch nemesis James Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, hints that Moriarty himself will return in the threequel.

Moriarty is like Holmes’ Loki, or the Joker, or Darth Vader. He can’t be done with after just one movie; his rivalry with Holmes needs time to develop across multiple movies.

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law will reprise their roles as Holmes and Watson

Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law have been signed on to reprise their roles as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in the upcoming threequel, which is a relief. Imagine if one or both of them weren’t coming back – it just wouldn’t be the same.

The two have been in contact again recently, since Law got in touch with Downey to get advice on taking a role in the MCU when he was cast to play Yon-Rogg in this year’s Captain Marvel, so it’s clear that their chemistry isn’t just confined to the movies and there’s a real friendship there.

Guy Ritchie isn’t returning to direct

Guy Ritchie on the set of Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law

Despite the fact that he directed both of the original Sherlock Holmes movies, setting the visual style and characterizing Downey’s version of the title role, Guy Ritchie is not returning to tackle the third one. He’s finished up production on his latest movie, The Gentleman, and his planned sequels to King Arthur: Legend of the Sword aren’t going forward for obvious reasons, so it seems unlikely that scheduling issues are to blame.

When Ritchie was asked about his involvement in the third movie, he didn’t have much to say: “You probably know as much as me. I have no idea what’s going on there.” So, his absence from the director’s chair is a mystery.

Dexter Fletcher is directing

Dexter Fletcher has been hired to direct the third Sherlock Holmes movie for Warner Bros. and Team Downey. Fletcher’s most recent work has been in flamboyant music biopics. When Bryan Singer left Bohemian Rhapsody because the #MeToo movement was giving him panic attacks, Fletcher jumped in to finish the film and led it to storm the Oscars.

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This year, he directed Rocketman, the glitzy musical based on the life of Elton John. Sherlock Holmes 3 will mark a huge departure for the director. Funnily enough, while Guy Ritchie isn’t directing Sherlock Holmes 3, his replacement Fletcher did have an acting role in Ritchie’s film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

It’ll be released on December 22, 2021

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'

Warner Bros. have set the release date for Sherlock Holmes 3 for December 22, 2021. The previous two Sherlock Holmes movies were released in December around the holiday season and they both grossed over $500 million, so as the saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

In December 2021, the threequel will face stiff competition from Avatar 2 (if it actually makes it to that release slot, since it’s been delayed a million times before – it was supposed to be released in 2015!), Hotel Transylvania 4, and the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked. Still, with Robert Downey, Jr. starring, it shouldn’t have too much trouble standing out in the crowd.

Susan Downey is aware that fans will only wait so long

Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes

When Sherlock Holmes 3 arrives in 2021, it’ll be a full decade since we last saw Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson on the big screen.

Producer Susan Downey (wife of Robert Downey, Jr. and co-founder of the couple’s production company Team Downey) is aware that fans have had to wait a long time and the team has been committed to getting the movie to them as soon as possible, but not without a great script: “At a certain point, it’s going to be too long – we’ve waited too long. We’re working as fast and responsibly as we can to get a great script.”

It doesn’t have a title yet

Robert Downey Jr. - Sherlock Holmes

The third Sherlock Holmes movie doesn’t have a proper title at the moment. It’s known only as Sherlock Holmes 3, but there’s a good chance that will change. The trend right now, thanks to the MCU, is to follow the title of the franchise with a colon and a subtitle.

The second movie in Downey’s Sherlock Holmes franchise had the awesome subtitle A Game of Shadows (which was original to the film and not taken from one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories), so it seems unlikely that the title Sherlock Holmes 3 will stick – that’s just what it’s being called for the time being.

The story is about Holmes and Watson’s co-dependent relationship

Holmes and Watson standing side by side

Despite the fact that Holmes’ name is the only one in the title, the Sherlock Holmes stories have always been about the eponymous detective’s relationship with his sidekick (and chronicler of his cases), Dr. John Watson. Jude Law, who plays Watson alongside Downey’s Holmes in the Warner Bros. movies, has said that in the third one, “the essence of the story is their co-dependency.”

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This co-dependent element has been explored in the previous films, with Holmes disrupting Watson’s romantic relationships, but it’s focused more heavily on how Holmes needs Watson and not on why Watson also needs Holmes. The threequel’s the thing...

A ton of writers have worked on the script

Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes

The third Sherlock Holmes movie has been in development since 2011, and in that time, a bunch of writers have rolled in and out of Warner Bros.’ offices to tamper with the script. The most recent hire was Chris Brancato (one of the credited creators of Netflix’s Narcos), but other writers have included Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel), Gary Whitta (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy), Drew Pearce (Hobbs & Shaw), and Justin Haythe (A Cure for Wellness).

A handful of lesser-known screenwriters – including Justin Malen, James Coyne, and Kieran Fitzgerald – have also done rewriting work on various drafts.

The movie is rumored to be set in Old West San Francisco

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law Sherlock Holmes

The third Sherlock Holmes movie will reportedly take Holmes and Watson across the Atlantic Ocean to Old West-era America, with the story taking place in San Francisco. This is reminiscent of how the sequel to western comedy Shanghai Noon took the characters to foggy, old-timey London in Shanghai Knights (just going the other way across the pond with the location change).

As the report hasn’t been confirmed and comes from an unnamed source, the Californian setting of the plot is considered to be nothing more than a rumor at this point, but it would be a refreshing change of pace for the iconic detective duo.

The team is committed to making it better than the first two

Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes

While the first two Sherlock Holmes films were popular among moviegoers, they received mixed reviews from critics and diehard Holmes fans were less than impressed.

Jude Law has said of the threequel, “We want it to be better than the other two. We want to make sure it’s smarter and cleverer, but in the same realm. It’s a slow process. We’re all busy. So, getting us together to try to nail that has taken a little bit longer than we had hoped...I hate celebrating anything I’ve done, but I’m so proud of those films. I think it was [producer] Joel Silver who said, ‘Take it out of that dusty room and put it on the street.’”

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