Sherlock Holmes 3 DELAYED: Will Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law still return?

It’s been eight years since Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was released, but a third film starring Downey Jr as the fictional detective is on the way. While Sherlock Holmes 3 was set for release in Christmas 2020, Warner Bros have now pushed the film back a whole year to December 21, 2021. This means there will be a whole decade between the second and third films in the franchise. Nevertheless, fans shouldn’t worry as both Downey Jr and Law are still set to return.

Back in 2016, Downey Jr told Shortlist: “We’re talking about it right now. We can do some preliminary stuff.

“If we could shoot it on Skype, we could have the whole [movie] done in a week.

“When we’re making those Sherlock movies, it is off the hook. [So] we’ll attempt to make one this year.

“It really is a big deal to go and do those movies. I’m tired all the time, but I’m so excited about it.”

While last year Law teased: “We hope to propel the story forward. As always, the essence of the story is their codependency.

“We’re going to examine — since it’s been several years since we’ve seen them — we’re going to play up the fact that they haven’t seen each other for a long time either.”

With a 2021 release, it’s now likely Sherlock Holmes 3 will shoot in 2020 or early 2021.

So why the big move? Well, no doubt it’s because of the competition in Christmas 2020.

Next year James Cameron is releasing Avatar 2, the first of four sequels to his 2009 hit.

Avatar is still the highest grossing movie of all time with $2.7 billion made at the box office, so at least the first sequel is expected to be a big hitter.

Sherlock Holmes 3 will now face competition from Hotel Transylvania 4 and an adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked over Christmas 2021.

Sherlock Holmes 3 is set for release on December 22, 2021.