Insanely busy schedules be damned, it looks as though Sherlock Holmes 3 may actually, finally be happening this year. A follow-up to Guy Ritchie’s 2011 sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows has been in the works ever since that film grossed $545 million worldwide, but not only is matching up the schedules of Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Ritchie incredibly tricky, but all involved wanted to ensure they had a story worth telling for the follow-up. Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce was put on the case in 2011, but then everything went quiet. Until last month, that is.

During the press tour for Captain America: Civil War, Downey Jr. revealed that he’s been talking with Ritchie and that Sherlock Holmes 3 could start filming this year. This came as a surprise given that Downey Jr. has a very busy schedule ahead of him by way of the two Avengers: Infinity War films that will be shooting back to back, but when Collider’s own Christina Radish caught up with producer Joel Silver at the press day for Shane Black’s delightful 70s detective story The Nice Guys (opening this Friday—see it!), he confirmed that cameras could indeed be rolling on Sherlock Holmes 3 by the end of the year:

“It looks like it could happen this fall. Downey said he wants to do it. He’s gotta launch into another Avengers movie, right after the New Year, so we’re trying to get it done. We have a script that we like. Jude [Law] is available and Downey is available, and we’re hoping we can get it done. If it works, great. If not, we’ll do it another time. But, it looks like it could happen now.”

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Image via Warner Bros.

Production on Avengers: Infinity War is slated to begin in November with Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo back in the director’s chair, but it sounds like Downey Jr. isn’t due on set until early 2017, leaving a bit of a hole in his schedule to squeeze in this next Sherlock film. But given how long it’s taken for Sherlock 3 to get off the ground, would this be a trilogy-ending installment? According to Silver, not in the slightest:

“I hope [it’s not the last one]. I don’t think so. How many Bond films have they made? As long as there’s a character, we can work with it. It’s not an end story. We can keep going, as long as people want to do it. It’s [the actor’s] call. They have to say, ‘Okay, I’m ready to go.’ I read about them making another Bad Boys. If they want to do it, then you try to get it done.”

Just after Downey broke the news of Sherlock Holmes 3 possibly filming this year, word surfaced that Warner Bros. had set screenwriter James Coyne to perform a rewrite of Pearce’s script, but it sounds like the stars are certainly beginning to align to get this thing rolling. Ritchie is currently in post-production on Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur for WB and hasn’t set his next directorial effort yet, so brace yourselves Sherlock fans: the sequel could be in theaters in just a couple of years.

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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.