Guy Ritchie's Sherlock 3 Gets a Promising Update After Years in Limbo
Sherlock Holmes (2009) was one of Guy Ritchie's most famous and successful films.
Its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), was a bit more controversial, and often criticized for certain plot decisions, but still ended up as a major hit.
Together, both films earned over a billion, five times their combined budgets. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, these films served as a fresh new take on the legend of the great detective, adding its own unique blend of humor and action.
Given how fast the first sequel was made, you could have expected Ritchie to make a couple more Sherlock Holmes films by now.
Yet no Sherlock 3 had materialized so far, though Warner Bros. was obviously enthusiastic about the idea of another sequel way back in 2011.
It is not clear what ultimately caused this, although as it appears both Richie and Robert Downey Jr. just weren't enthused about the franchise, and possibly ran out of good ideas.
As Ritchie said, when asked whether we can expect another Sherlock movie in an interview with Collider, primarily dedicated to his new spy action comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre:
"Well, honestly, I left this up to Robert [Downey Jr.]. So Robert wanted to be in charge of this. The ball's in his court, so he's in charge of the script, he's in charge of the whole thing. I've moonwalked out of that until there's a time for me to get involved."
Meanwhile Warner Bros. attempted to proceed without Ritchie. It was announced in 2019 that Dexter Fletcher (Bohemian Rhapsody) would replace Ritchie as the director on Sherlock 3.
The film was given a tentative release date of 2020. But of course, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
As the result, the project was put on hold indefinitely – though given how many films were eventually completed despite the pandemic, it might have been used as an excuse, covering production problems.
But if Ritchie is willing to work on the franchise again, if Robert Downey Jr. calls upon him, we still might have hope to see another Sherlock Holmes film from him.
Meanwhile, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is going to be released in US on March 3.