We got two films in quick succession in 2009 and 2011, but since then Warner Bros. Pictures hasn't seemed to be keen to move forward on a third entry in the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law-led "Sherlock Holmes" franchise.
With director Guy Ritchie returning to cinemas next week with his "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." adaptation, his go to producer/writer partner Lionel Wigram recently spoke with IGN about the status of a third "Holmes" and it seems the film is still in the works: "We're working on a Sherlock Holmes 3 script. 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." Empire recently spoke with Jude Law - who memorably played the Dr. Watson to Downey's Holmes - about the current status of the as-yet-untitled Sherlock Holmes 3.
The actor has already met with the studio about the project and appears eager to get back to work on the next entry in the Sherlock Holmes franchise. It's just a matter of finding the right time to get the film into production and do the franchise justice.Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films have essentially re-energized - on the big screen, anyway - a character who's existed in one form or another since the late 19th century, and by that rationale, this latest incarnation has become a massive success.
The fact that Law and the rest of the Holmes team sound passionate about the property and aren't rushing a haphazard film through to production is probably in the best service of the franchise... and the fans. Wigram say both Downey and Law are "very, very" interested in returning to the roles of Holmes and Watson respectively, but the team wants a strong story to be in place before committing to the film. Ritchie is currently directing the first of a proposed series of "King Arthur" movies starring Charlie Hunnam.
