As is the case with many movies these days, the upcoming Sherlock Holmes 3 has hit a production snag. The filmโs original plan was to release sometime this year. But in March of last year, it was pushed back an entire year to December 22nd, 2021. It still currently holds that date, but director Dexter Fletcher has given an unfortunate update. Fletcher spoke about the production problems in the era of COVID-19 on the Celebrity Catch Up podcast. The pandemic is affecting the sequel and his remake of the 1997 action thriller, The Saint.
Sherlockโs hit its own issues on and off. Thatโs sort of sitting on the back burner at the moment until it becomes clear where the world is at and whatโs going to happen. The same is with The Saint. Iโm pushing ahead with both of them, and thatโs always part of the challenge.โ
Fletcher went on to say that the problems his productions are facing are the same everywhere. In the worldโs current state, itโs incredibly difficult to get large groups of people together and travel around the world to film. Itโs a bit too early to push the movie back again. But if production canโt begin, weโll likely see another delay down the road.

Fletcher signed onto the project in July of 2019. Guy Ritchie directed 2009โs Sherlock Holmes and its 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Fletcher previously directed last yearโs acclaimed Rocketman and 2015โs Eddie the Eagle, both of which starred Taron Egerton. He also took over directing duties on 2018โs Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was let go from the project.
In other Sherlock Holmes news, star Robert Downey, Jr. and producer/wife Susan Downey recently spoke about their desire to create a shared universe. Ideally, Sherlock Holmes 3 would be the jumping-off point. However, we may be waiting a while to see that idea take form.