Although Robert Downey Jr. has spent the majority of his acting career over the last decade playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that isn't the only popular fictional character he's brought to life on the big screen during that time. In 2009 and 2011, he played Sherlock Holmes in the Guy Ritchie-helmed movies centered on the detective, and while the latter movie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, set up the possibility of a sequel, it's been a slow journey towards making Sherlock Holmes 3 a reality. However, according to producer Joel Silver, it sounds like we're closer than ever to Sherlock Holmes 3 finally picking up steam. In Silver's words:
Sherlock Holmes 3 is happening, that's coming. That'll probably get done maybe about a year from now we'll shoot that, we're excited.
CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell spoke with Joel Silver about Sherlock Holmes 3 during the CinemaCon red carpet on behalf of Sony Pictures' upcoming Miss Bala, and judging by Silver's comments, the third installment starring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation might soon relinquish its spot in development and move into production sometime within the next year. Robert Downey Jr. mentioned last month that Sherlock Holmes 3 is one of several projects that's on his slate, and since it looks like Avengers 4 could be the actor's final outing as Tony Stark in the MCU, he'll have a lot more time to make these happen.
When we last left off with Sherlock Holmes in A Game of Shadows, the public believed him to be dead after, just like in the original short story "The Final Problem," he and his arch-nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, fell into Reichenbach Falls. While it appears that Moriarty met a permanent and messy end, in the movie's final minutes, Sherlock was revealed to have lived, and, having camouflaged himself within John Watson's office, he quickly went to the typewriter after the good doctor left the room, read the end of the memoirs and added a question mark after "The End." This chapter of Sherlock Holmes' cinematic history could have just ended on that loose cliffhanger, but if all goes according to plan, then Watson will soon discover that his best friend is still alive.
Back in late 2016, it was reported that Robert Downey Jr. and Warner Bros had assembled a writers room to hash out the Sherlock Holmes 3 script. We have yet to learn what story they're going with, but assuming that Sherlock Holmes 3 does indeed start rolling cameras sometime in 2019, then hopefully we'll learn some details about the threequel before the year is up. In the years since A Game of Shadows' release, Sherlock and Elementary have filled the void somewhat with their modern interpretations of the detective's mythology, but it'll be nice to watch a new Sherlock Holmes adventure set in that proper late 1800s period.
You can watch the video below to hear Joel Silver's full comments about Sherlock Holmes 3 and more in the video below.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest major updates concerning Sherlock Holmes 3. In the meantime, you can see Robert Downey Jr. reprising Tony Stark in Avengers: Infinity War, starting Friday, April 27, and be sure to look through our 2018 release schedule to learn what other movies are arriving later this year.
