Appearing as a guest on the Celebrity Catch Up Podcast, Fletcher, who is taking over the franchise from Guy Ritchie, shared an update on the third Sherlock Holmes installment, as he admitted that the project had been put on hold indefinitely whilst they try to figure out a plan of action that will enable them to move forward with production.
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“Sherlock’s hit its own issues on and off,” Fletcher said. “That’s sort of sitting on the back burner at the moment until it becomes clear where the world is at and what’s going to happen. The same is with The Saint. I’m pushing ahead with both of them, and that’s always part of the challenge.”
Fletcher explained that The Saint, his reboot of the 1997 action thriller that starred Val Kilmer, had faced the same challenges as Sherlock Holmes 3, as he cited COVID-19 travel bans and social gathering restrictions as the main “dilemma” for film productions.
“They’re both up against the same dilemma,” he confirmed. “[It’s] the same issue that we all [have]: How do you get large groups of people together to create something and then shift them all around the world? And what do you do with actors that are in a love scene? It’s complicated.”
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The project might currently be stalled, but Robert Downey Jr. has already revealed that he has some very big plans for the sleuthing series. He recently outlined his intentions to spin a new cinematic universe out of Sherlock Holmes 3, which is currently scheduled for release on December 22, 2021, after being pushed back from its original 2020 release date.
In his mind, the third film would serve as an entry point into a new “mystery-verse” that will feature multiple spinoffs backed by the lessons that he picked up from his “decade of tutelage” working on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Downey Jr. believes there is “an algorithm to the potential” for franchises to expand. For more, check out our rundown of movie series’ that we feel improved over time.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.