Producer confirms script is in the works for a third Sherlock Holmes flick

SHERLOCK HOLMES and SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS hit in 2009 and 2011, respectively, and garnered decent reviews and a modest box-office sum. While the world seems more caught up in BBC's iteration featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, producer Lionel Wigram is prepping a third flick, and seems to feel that Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are keen on returning.

Wigram has served as producer on the latter Harry Potter flicks and also Guy Ritchie's output as of late. Aside from SHERLOCK HOLMES, he's also worked with Ritchie on the upcoming MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. as well as KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE: KING ARTHUR. Speaking with IGN, he made it evident that if a third film is to go forward, the story has to be an improvement over the last two.

Producer Lionel Wigram on the status of a third Sherlock Holmes movie:

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.

Whether or not Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are eager to return:

Very. Very.

Wigram is also producing the upcoming FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, so if a third SHERLOCK comes to fruition, I imagine production wouldn't begin until late 2016. That is, if Robert Downey Jr. has the time to spare from being Iron Man. Either way, I feel pretty lukewarm about the series thus far, but if the cast continues to stay enthusiastic, I'd be down for a third trip to Ritchie's HOLMES universe.

Guy Ritchie's next film, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., hits theaters on August 14, 2015.