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Robert Downey Jr. Confirms He Will Return for ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ – Filming May Start This Year

By Jacintha Webster
Published on: 13:01 PST, Apr 21, 2016

Robert Downey, Jr. has confirmed that he will return to play Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock Homes 3 film. The star says he intends to meet with director Guy Ritchie while touring the United Kingdom for Captain America: Civil War, and hopes that filming may start this year.

During an interview with ShortList Downey said “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. We’ll attempt to make one this year.”

Downey admitted that his busy schedule has caused delays in shooting for the third film to the Sherlock Holmes saga. The second Sherlock Holmes film, A Game of Shadows, came out in 2011 and saw Holmes fake his own death after a fight with his nemesis Moriarty. Fans have been left in suspense and had to wait over five years for the next Sherlock Holmes 3 film to begin shooting. The third installment is said to happen before Downey suits up for Marvel’s two-part Avengers: Infinity War film, which is also set to start filming soon.

In 2015, excitement around the third Sherlock Holmes film began to build as Lionel Wigram, the Sherlock Holmes franchise producer and co-writer, announced he was working on a third Sherlock Holmes script with Drew Pearce who penned Iron Man 3, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation a film that also featured Downey.

“We’re working on a Sherlock Holmes 3 script. I think we would all love to do one if we could come up with something that really was really going to knock it out of the park and was going to be the best of the three. So we’re working on that – it’s quite hard to do.” Wigram said.

Despite the enthusiasm for Sherlock Holmes 3 to begin filming in 2016, the busy schedules of Downey and Ritchie meant the prediction of 2016 filming is wildly optimistic. Ritchie is currently filming his King Arthur movie (due March 24, 2017) and Downey is busy with Captain America: Civil War. Despite having a full plate Downey is eager to return to the role of Sherlock Holmes, but is feeling run down from filming commitments in 2016 already.

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

Sherlock Holmes debuted in theaters in 2009, with follow-up Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows premiering in 2011. The first two films grossed over $500 million worldwide and spin-offs of the original book written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are wildly popular. Currently, fans can get their Sherlock Holmes fix by watching TV shows Elementary and Sherlock.

Elementary is an American procedural drama in its fourth season that presents a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters. Elementary was met with positive reviews from critics and stars Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. The series is set and filmed mainly in New York City.

The second wildly popular Sherlock Holmes adaption is Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Sherlock is in its third season and is also a contemporary version of the detective stories. The TV adaption sees Watson as a war vet home from Afghanistan and Holmes as his usual brilliant but eccentric self. True to the original stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes serves as a consultant to Scotland Yard and lives in the classic Baker Street flat in London.

Elementary, Sherlock and the Sherlock Holmes movies are all met with equal enthusiasm despite the vastly contrasting styles by the screen writers, directors and actors leaving only one real question…

Who is your favorite Sherlock Holmes?

[Image via Warner Bros.]

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