One of Robert Downey Jr.'s most highly anticipated sequel projects just received an exciting update, which would see the film make a major franchise departure. Downey is no stranger to franchise entertainment, becoming one of the biggest box office draws of the last 20 years largely thanks to his work as Tony Stark in the MCU. However, Marvel is not the only cinematic series the actor has attached his name to over the years.
Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes 3 just received a significant update, revealing the story may move off-continent, leaving the foggy streets of London behind for the hustle and bustle of the United States.
Sherlock Holmes franchise executive producer Susan Downey teased in a recent conversation with Collider that the still-in-development third film in the cinematic sleuthing franchise is going in a "slightly different direction."
Instead of taking place in 19th-century London, the new film will, according to Downey, be "set in America:"
"We've been talking about a slightly different direction It's always been kind of set in America, and whether that's a good idea or not, I'm not sure, but I love it. I love that idea. So, I would just love to do it. It's just hard. It's been a while, the bar is really high, or at least Robert [Downey Jr.] has set the bar really high, so I don't know."
This would be the first time the classic interpretation of Sherlock has made it stateside, with none of the original Holmes stories taking place on the other side of the Atlantic.
There has been some speculation among the Holmes fandom that the character may have traveled to America in his time between novels, but none of those adventures ever made it into the source material.
Sherlock Holmes 3 has been in development since 2011, but has been stuck in development hell for much of this time. Despite a relative lack of updates, one thing has remained constant among those involved in the project: It is still happening.
The movie is assumed to once again star Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective and Jude Law as his inquisitive assistant, Dr. John Watson. No release information for the threequel has been made public.
When Will Sherlock Holmes 3 Ever Happen?
Despite it being over a decade since the last Sherlock Holmes movie, Sherlock Holmes 3 remains a subject that continually gets brought up.
The movie is still in development at Warner Bros., with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law both attached to reprise their franchise roles.
It will not be all of the same creative team coming back for the threequel, however, as Guy Ritchie has moved on from the project. Instead of Ritchie, Bohemian Rhapsody filmmaker Dexter Fletcher was tapped to direct the film in 2019, and it is assumed he is still attached.
Even though people like Susan Downey remain adamant that the movie is still happening, former Sherlock Holmes star Jared Harris (the man behind this franchise's version of Professor James Moriarty) has said he hasn't heard anything.
In a 2025 conversation with The Direct, Harris posited that "no one's talking to [him] about it" and people should "stop asking."
Jude Law was singing a different tune back in 2024, as he said plans were "evolving," suggesting that the movie was continuing to come together.
If this plan can be solidified and a script finalized, then production could soon follow. That could mean fans may see Sherlock Holmes 3 in the next couple of years at the absolute earliest.
