For fans of the Sherlock Holmes film series, the past few years have felt like an unending test of our collective patience. Despite the 2009 film and its 2011 sequel both enjoying rave reviews and collectively grossing more than $1 billion at the box office, we have now been awaiting the third installment for a full decade. How did it come to this, and what do we know so far about the Sherlock Holmes 3? Read on to find out.
Sherlock Holmes 3: Everything We Know So Far
First off, let’s break down exactly what we know about the upcoming film. One thing that is clear is that it has spent much of the last few years being held up in production hell, for several reasons. The original release date was slated for December 2020, but this was delayed all the way back in March 2019, with no reason being given at the time.
Earlier this year, a new release date was given for December 22, 2021, but that clearly isn’t happening since it was recently revealed in October 2021 that the film had not even entered production yet.
We know that Robert Downey Jr. will be reprising his role as the titular character, while his co-star Jude Law will be returning as Watson, but that’s about all we have in terms of casting. Unfortunately, concrete facts are thin on the ground these days.
Sherlock’s Popularity Has Not Waned
If the team behind Sherlock 3 is worried that the world’s collective enthusiasm for the franchise has waned in the preceding decade, it seems that such concerns would be unfounded. In fact, across various media, it seems clear that Sherlock and Holmes are more popular than ever.
To give one example that best embodies our love for all things Sherlock, all you need to do is head to a popular online casino and look at the most popular slots. Chances are the 6-reel slot game Moriarty Megaways will feature highly, a game in which you step into the shoes of Sherlock’s arch-nemesis to trawl the backstreets of Victorian London for hidden treasures and real cash prizes.
This comes on the heels of various other popular Sherlock-themed games, including 2021’s open-world critical hit Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, and Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, which puts a horror spin on the classic tales. It seems like the love has definitely not been lost for this franchise.
What’s Next for Sherlock?
We also know that Chris Brancato has been signed on to write the thing along with Dexter Fletcher to direct. Given that this is the person who brought us the uber-gritty Netflix series Narcos and Godfathers of Harlem, we can reasonably expect the next installment to take a darker turn than the previous films. However, this is all just guesswork at this point.
Although we don’t know when SH3 is going to drop, we remain hopeful of a release in the near future. Us Sherlockians are nothing if not optimistic.
