Robert Downey Jr. recently confirmed that "Sherlock Holmes 3" is still on the table. Development on the trilogy capper is getting serious with a new writer on board.
Writer James Coyne, who doesn't have a lot of movies to his name as indicated in his IMDB profile, has been tapped to plot the story for the next great adventure of the greatest detective of all time.
Back in 2011, Drew Pearce, who wrote the script for "Iron Man 3," was recruited to be in charge of the screenplay. It remains to be seen if Coyne will be joining Pearce or the latter is no longer involved in "Sherlock Holmes 3."
Downey will be back as Sherlock Holmes while Jude Law is expected to return as his rival John Moriarty. Guy Ritchie, who directed the first two films, will be back on the director's seat too.
Breaking the news about "Sherlock Holmes 3," Downey told Shortlist, "We're talking about it right now. We can do some preliminary stuff...When we're making those Sherlock movies it is off the hook. [So] we'll attempt to make one this year."
He added, "It really is a big deal to go and do those movies. I'm tired all the time, but I'm so excited about it," he added. He was supposed to meet up with Ritchie in London to further talk about the project as well.
Downey's Sherlock was last seen in action in "A Game of Shadows" back in 2011. The movie grossed $545.5 million worldwide. The first film in the series was released in 2009.
A third movie was expected early on but Ritchie and Downey's busy schedules held off the development. Now, it looks like Downey himself is finding time to make "Sherlock Holmes 3" happen.
Just recently, the actor also hinted that he is interested in doing a fourth "Iron Man" film. It remains to be seen how that will play out.
