Robert Downey Jr. has had his fair share of iconic roles over the years. Iron Man is the one that many know and love him for, but during the late 2000s there was another role the actor stepped into that instantly became a hit, and that was Sherlock Holmes.
RDJ played the master investigator not once, but twice, in a duology of films that was released between 2009 and 2012. Ever since the last sequel, there’s been discussion among both fans and those involved in the film about completing a trilogy. While we’re more than a decade separated from the last installment, that goal is still very much on the table.
Sherlock Holmes co-star Jude Law, who played RDJ’s loveable sidekick Watson in the movies, recently spoke to The Playlist about a third film, and it surprisingly appears to still be in development despite the 12 years that has passed since both characters last graced the screen.
“There’s a great will to make it,” Law told The Playlist. “And a great will amongst us all to get it right, to do it, to find the time, to find the right team. The one great thing I took from both of those films is my friendship with Robert and his wife Susan, they mean an awful lot to me. The hope is we’re still going to do it.
I think there’s a new iteration of the script I haven’t yet read. And then there’s a case of ‘How expensive is it? And can we get it made?’”
Well, you heard it right from Law himself. Sherlock Holmes 3 is not dead yet, and given how fun the first two movies were, we hope that eventually it will get made. Details about the plot of the threequel have floated around online for years, but Law suggests they’ve continued to evolve and change for many years.
At one point, there were talks that the threequel would even involve a time travel plot. That might sound outlandish for those who haven’t seen the original film, but if you have then you can probably see how they would have grounded such a seemingly bizarre premise.
While hearing that a new script is in the works does sound promising, it’s worth noting that both Law and RDJ have been extremely busy since the first two movies, and that their respective schedules don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.
You’ve probably already heard, unless you’ve been intentionally avoiding anything Marvel-related (which we can’t blame you for), but RDJ is headed back to the MCU to play Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers movies. This would seem like a big commitment that will ultimately take preference over a third Sherlock Holmes movie, since it doesn’t have the mass appeal that Disney’s superhero universe does, despite being so beloved.
In any case, Law’s mention of the anticipated third film is simply the latest in a flurry of developments we’ve heard about Sherlock Holmes 3. Over the years, it’s been reported the RDJ was pushing for an R rating for the film, that it had begun shooting at the end of 2022, and that the ball remained “entirely” in RDJ’s court as to when to proceed with making the film.
With any luck, RDJ and Law can find some downtime to finally get this third Sherlock Holmes movie done… hopefully sometime before the end of the decade.