Could a Third Sherlock Holmes Film Still Happen?
Sherlock Holmes has been a very used character as of late. With each interpretation we see seems to put its own unique spin on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books and character to make it their own. These examples include the procedural Elementary, to the short but gripping seasons of Sherlock to even the recent Mr. Holmes, which delved into what the titular character would be like in his old age. However, the recent renaissance of Sherlock Holmes can be equated to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Dr. Watson respectively. The second movie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released in December 2011. The film grossed $186 million domestically and $545 million worldwide. There were reports that a third film was being written, but talk of a potential third film in the franchise has severely died down as of late.
The producer of the film franchise, Lionel Wigram, is currently working with Holmes’ director Ritchie on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and actually revealed to IGN that a third movie could still happen.
“We’re working on a Sherlock Holmes 3 script” Wigram explained. “I think we would all love to do one if we could come up with something that really was really going to knock it out of the park and was going to be the best of the three. So we’re working on that – it’s quite hard to do.”
There does not seem to be a firm commitment to make the third film happen one way or the other. Wigram also noted that both Downey and Law were up for reprising their roles if the movie was made. One foreseeable problem is that Downey is constantly busy playing Tony Stark/Iron Man for Marvel Studios, as he will appear in Captain America: Civil War and the most likely the next two Avengers movies as well. So by the time he is available, it might be too late for Warner Bros. to opt to go ahead with a third movie. Whether it will happen though is still up in the air.