Of the many films reportedly stuck in production limbo, Sherlock Holmes 3 is among the most wanted by fans. Guy Ritchie directed the 2009 original and its 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Both whodunit films starred Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively, with Rachel McAdams playing Irene Adler, with Mark Strong chewing scenery as Lord Henry Blackwood and Jared Harris portraying Holmes’ nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, in Game of Shadows. Recently, The Direct caught up with Chris Brancato, who is listed as the screenwriter for Sherlock Holmes 3, and Michael Panes, his co-creator on the MGM+ series Westies, and they offered an update about the long-gestating sequel.
Brancato says he’s written a full draft of the script, but is uncertain if the film will ever see the light of day. Why? One reason is that Robert Downey Jr. has a “very busy schedule,” and I doubt they’d move forward without him. Meanwhile, Panes says Brancato’s draft is “very good,” meaning the holdup isn’t on the writing side.
When asked if he thinks the movie will happen, Brancato told The Direct, “Well, I don’t know, that’s up to the movie gods. Also, Robert’s schedule. Robert has a very, very busy schedule, so I’m hopeful that it will get made. But you know, we have to wait and see how things shake out. You just never know with movies.” When asked if he’s written a draft of the script, Brancato said yes, “I wrote a draft,” to which Panes added, “And it’s very good.”
Before Bracanto took a crack at the Sherlock Holmes 3 script, Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce wrote a story for the threequel that addressed the fallout of Holmes’ faked death at Reichebach Falls. Five years later, after Pearce’s draft got shelved, James Coyne gave it the old college try for a fresh script rewrite. Neither story materialized into anything the studio could use to get production rolling on a third movie. Then, before Brancato began writing his version, a five-person writers’ room with Nicole Perlman, Gary Whitta, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Kieran Fitzgerald, and Justin Malen went to work on the threequel. Try as they might, no one’s been able to crack the case, with Brancato’s version being the latest attempt.
There’s no doubt that a Sherlock Holmes 3 would be well-received, with Downey being one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. He’s got a busy schedule, that much is true, but it’s been long enough since A Game of Shadows that returning to the classic character could intrigue him. Fans would love to see Downey and Law together again on the silver screen, especially with whodunit movies like Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out franchise, which are getting casual audiences back into the genre.
Do you want to see Sherlock Holmes 3 happen? Should someone else recast the role and reboot the concept from scratch? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.