Is Sherlock Holmes returning?

At the end of January 2026, the film industry was abuzz with rumors about a third installment of the Sherlock Holmes film series starring Robert Downey Jr. According to well-known insider Daniel Richtman, who published the latest claims on the status of the long-awaited release on Patreon on January 31th, work on the highly anticipated trilogy is now reportedly back after years of uncertainty. Downey Jr. said to be back on board to his iconic role as the legendary detective.

It should be noted that there has been no official confirmation from Warner Bros. Pictures, Team Downey (production company founded by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey), or Robert himself. However, these rumors have sparked a wave of enthusiasm among fans, especially considering that they came a year and a half after the announcement of Downey Jr.'s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom. Fans note the symbolism of the moment: the actor won an Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer, proving his acting skills to his critics, and is now returning to the commercial blockbusters that made him a superstar.

This article will be updated as new information about the Sherlock Holmes 3 becomes available. The project is currently unofficially in early pre-production.

What is the announcement schedule?

According to the editorial board, the official start of work on a film could be timed to coincide with announcements related to the actor's activities at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), an annual comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event for comics, films, TV series and video games. Considering that Downey is only attached to two upcoming superhero team-ups in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) — the fifth and sixth instalments of the Avengers film series, subtitled Doomsday and Secret Wars, respectively — filming for the new Sherlock Holmes film could, at best, begin in 2027, with a planned release date of 2028. Why is this?

Filming of the Avengers: Doomsday has been completed and is now in post-production, with its worldwide release scheduled for December 2026 (16th — France, Italy, South Korea; 17th — Australia, Brazil; 18th — USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Spain, India). A sequel, titled Avengers: Secret Wars, principal photography is scheduled to begin in mid-2026 until the end of 2026/beginning of 2027, with a theatrical release scheduled for December 2027, unless the project's release date is postponed due to production delays.

Let's explain the context. Secret Wars is the massive finale for the MCU's Phase 6, and Downey's role as a global villain requires the actor to appear only in landmark franchise projects, especially since, from a financial point of view, the actor's salary "significantly more" than $80 million (supposedly for only the fifth film) according to industry sources. For example, the role of Tony Stark in the fourth Avengers film earned Robert Downey Jr. about $75 million. It is likely that such a high-profile character will not appear often. This turn of events means that Doctor Doom's next appearance will not happen soon (there are rumors that there will be a recast in the next phases of the MCU, and another actor will take on the role of Doctor Doom), and next year Robert Downey Jr. will not be bound by obligations to Marvel Studios. So his schedule will be free to work on other projects, one of which could be a threequel of Holmes adventures.

Current status

Timeline of the development

The story of the third part began immediately after the release of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows in December 2011. The film was a commercial success: with a production budget of $125 million and undisclosed marketing costs estimated at $50–100 million, the film grossed over $543 million worldwide at the box office and approximately $86 million from DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the US. Together, the first and second parts earned over $1.2 billion (box office, DVD, Blu-Ray; excluding TV broadcast rights sales and streaming revenue), making the franchise extremely profitable for Warner Bros.

The studio announced plans for a trilogy almost immediately. Initially (in 2011), Drew Pearce was brought in to work on the script. At the beginning of the 2010s, he had very little experience working on projects, limited to the sitcom No Heroics for British television. Later (in 2014), he was replaced by Justin Haythe, who wrote the screenplay for the film Revolutionary Road starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Next (in 2016), James Coyne took over, and finally (in 2018) Chris Brancato, co-writer of the series Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, and Godfather of Harlem, took over the project.

In the 2010s, it was expected that director Guy Ritchie would continue working on the franchise for a third time, with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprising their roles as Holmes and Watson. However, in 2013, Jude Law announced that there was an idea for a film, but no official script yet. In 2014, producer Susan Downey explained the reason for the delay: the team could not find a story that would surpass the previous films. According to her, the third part needed a really good reason to bring the project back to the screen. In 2018, Warner Bros. officially announced the film with a release date in December 2020, just as Brancato was confirmed as the screenwriter. A year later, it was announced that Guy Ritchie would be replaced in the director's chair by Dexter Fletcher, known for his work on the films Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody.

The COVID-19 pandemic put an end to the studio's plans, and at the same time, problems arose with the availability of the main actors. In 2021, Fletcher announced that the project had been postponed indefinitely. Three years later, in 2024, Jude Law announced the creation of a new version of the script and expressed his desire to make the film.

The plan has been evolving over how many years it’s been now, probably nearly ten years. There’s a great will to make it. And a great will amongst us all to get it right to do it, to find the time, to find the right team. The one great thing I took from both of those films is my friendship with Robert and his wife Susan, they mean an awful lot to me. The hope is we’re still going to do it.

In October 2025, Susan Downey said that at one point the team came quite close to making the film, but she is grateful that they did not make that version. According to rumors, at one stage of development, the idea of time travel was even considered. The producer did not go into details, but hinted that the problem was time constraints — they did not manage to start work on the film before Jude Law became unavailable due to other commitments. This likely refers to the 2018 announcement by Warner Bros., when Law was starring in the Fantastic Beasts franchise as Albus Dumbledore, Captain Marvel, and other projects, and the actor had a very busy filming schedule for years to come.

I would love to bring a third Sherlock to the world. We've been playing with it for a long time. We've been talking about slightly different directions… I would just love to do it. It's hard, it's been a while. The bar is really high.

However, returning to the beginning of the article and Richtman's insider information from this year, there may be hope. The project has not been officially closed, work on it is still ongoing, and the participation of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in tandem is considered likely. Recent statements indicate that the studio and film crew are ready to return to the franchise, but this requires a good story and convenient timing in the schedules of everyone involved. We will keep an eye out for updates.