Sherlock Holmes 3 has been one of those films that just can’t lock in a release date for one reason or another. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) and Jude Law (John Watson) are busy people working on various projects, and the script is being worked out. As such, the capper to the trilogy has been pushed back from time to time.

So it comes as no surprise that the final chapter in that trilogy has now been pushed back to a 2021 release. More on the report below.

Deadline says Sherlock Holmes 3‘s new release date will be December 22, 2021. Hopefully. But as Downey Jr. stated three years ago, they were talking about a third, with creative forces doing “preliminary stuff.” It has been over seven years since Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows hit theaters, and since then both Downey Jr. and Law have worked on other things, virtually putting the end to the trilogy behind them. At least momentarily.

Warner Bros. didn’t say anything else about the third installment, other than the release date. But if it is a release date that sticks, it would follow the last two, which were also released in December.

The first film introduced us to a gritty steampunk version of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective, who was a bit eccentric yet very charming person. In that film, he faced off against Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), a master of the dark arts who attempted to wipe out Parliament. In the second, Holmes met his match, when he was forced to square off against his greatest rival, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Sherlock Holmes, which was relatively good, grossed $524 million at the box office in 2009. Two years later, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, which wasn’t nearly as good, grossed a nice $545 million. However, there is a strong enough fanbase that WB wanted to give the franchise the proper sendoff it deserves.

Sherlock Holmes 3 will be joining a very busy date that also includes Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 4, Universal’s Broadway adaptation of Wicked, and an untitled Disney live-action movie. So don’t be surprised if any one of these movies takes a new release date.

But one thing that needs to be worked out is who will be directing it. It’s unclear if Guy Ritchie will return to helm another installment, but you can be sure that Downey Jr. and Law will be back to reprise their roles.

Until then, we will be keeping a close watch on any new developments should they come in.

[Source: Deadline]