Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law starred in Sherlock Holmes way back in 2009, followed by a sequel, A Game of Shadows, in 2011. Both films were big hits and a sequel has been talked about ever since. But when Downey got crazy busy suiting up as Iron Man, the film never materialized, although everyone involved paid lip service to being interested. Still, nothing has happened, despite Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman) coming aboard in 2019 to replace original director Guy Ritchie.
So where does Sherlock Holmes 3 stand now? Ritchie spoke with Collider about his upcoming spy film Operation Fortune, and confirmed that it’s up to Downey if a new Sherlock Holmes sequel happens…
“Well, honestly, I left this up to Robert [Downey Jr.]. So Robert wanted to be in charge of this.The ball’s in his court, so he’s in charge of the script, he’s in charge of the whole thing. I’ve moonwalked out of that until there’s a time for me to get involved.”
So it sounds as if Fletcher is out and Ritchie is back in, although the latter was never too far away in the first place. If this is being left to Downey, there’s a good chance nothing will happen. He spent a lot of time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was eager to get away from it. A couple of years ago there was news that Downey was developing a Sherlock Holmes cinematic universe, too, with a pair of spinoff HBO Max shows in the works based on characters introduced in Sherlock Holmes 3. It’s possible the future of this franchise is on the small screen with entirely new actors. To be honest, it could be impossible to corral Downey, Law, and Ritchie to do anything together.
