CAUTION: THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (2011)
Well all Robert Downey Jr. and Sherlock Holmes fans will be happy! According to The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that a long lost in development hell sequel, Sherlock Holmes 3 has an official release date. The third installment is confirmed to see the returning stars of Robert Downey Jr. in the elusive title role and Jude Law as his partner Dr. John Watson, and will presumably be hitting theaters Christmas Day, December 25, 2020.
While we all want to stay positive here, this doesn’t mean that the release date won’t change, and even though it has a release date, the film is still in development, which means even though the two main stars are attached, a confirmed director is not. Guy Ritchie, who most recently directed King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) and is in production with helming the Disney’s upcoming live-action Aladdin (2019) remake, directed the first two films, and he is rumored to return for the third. It would only make sense for Guy Ritchie to come back a third time, as the stylistic choices of these Holmes films heavily relies on Ritchie’s sensibilities. Rachel McAdams is also rumored to reprise her role as Irene Adler, who may or may not have met her demise in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).
It has been almost seven years since the last Sherlock Holmes film (A Game of Shadows), and it will be nearly a decade once this third film is released. Apparently the third film has been wanting to get made for a long time (and we most certainly have been wanting it), but Robert Downey Jr.’s Marvel obligations have made it difficult for him to do any other role. This is an interesting dilemma when you consider performers like Chris Pratt, who managed to appear as the Star Lord in this summer’s Avengers: Infinity War (2018) as well as the blockbuster dino sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) just a couple months later in the same year. Either way, we are happy to hear this news, news to properly close out a hopefully great detective trilogy. We’ll update you here with the latest Sherlock Holmes 3 information when we hear about it. Downey Jr. is set to don the suit of Iron Man at least one more time in next year’s untitled Avengers film from Marvel (Infinity War Part II (2019)).
