For a 125 year old, Sherlock Holmes is a pretty popular guy.  The character is currently being portrayed on two different television series (the BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’ Elementary), and Warner Bros. has a very successful Sherlock Holmes film franchise on their hands.  Director Guy Ritchie’s 2009 period take, Sherlock Holmes, struck a chord with audiences thanks to the electric chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and Ritchie’s interesting visual approach to the story, and its worldwide gross of over half a billion dollars spawned a sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.Game of Shadows saw Ritchie and Co. tackle the classic Arthur Conan Doyle villain Moriarty (played by Jared Harris), and again grossed over $500 million worldwide.  Back in October of 2011, Warner Bros. unsurprisingly hired Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3) to start working on a screenplay for Sherlock Holmes 3.  Steve recently got the chance to interview producer Dan Lin in anticipation of the upcoming crime drama Gangster Squad, and Lin provided a promising update on the status of SH3.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.dan-lin-sherlock-holmes-3Though Pearce was hired to pen the script for Sherlock Holmes 3 over a year ago, we haven’t heard a ton of movement on the project since that time.  Steve spoke with Law in September and though the actor noted how busy he and Downey Jr.’s schedules are, he expressed enthusiasm for returning to the series.Speaking with Lin, Steve asked about the producer about the current status of Sherlock Homes 3:

“It’s still in development.  Drew Pearce is working on the script and Downey, as you know, is still finishing Iron Man 3 so we’re waiting for Downey to finish that movie and to get a script from Drew.”

Lin noted that the studio is very keen on making the project happen, but everyone wants to ensure that the script is in top shape:

“It is a high priority for the studio and all for the filmmakers involved… We want to make the right movie.  We got a great response to the second movie and frankly the Moriarty character sets such a high bar that we want to make sure we’re telling the right story for the third movie.”

Given the way Game of Shadows ends, Steve asked Lin if certain characters could possibly return in the third film.  Though plot details are understandably being kept under wraps, Lin teased some interesting locations for the follow-up:

“I don’t want to go into details about [characters returning], I just want to say that there will be some new locations, new settings for the third movie.  Just like Sherlock for the second movie took us in a new location; the third movie will take us to a new location as well.”

It’s no secret that Downey Jr. likes to provide input on the screenwriting process of many of his films, so it’s possible that once he completes his Iron Man 3 duties he can get together with Pearce and get things moving on Sherlock Holmes 3.  At the end of the day, though, the first two films combined raked in $1 billion at the box office, so for SH3 it's not really a matter of if, but a matter of when.

Read the full transcript of the portion of Steve’s interview with Lin regarding Sherlock Holmes 3 below, and look for the full interview closer to the release of Gangster Squad.

Collider: What’s the status on Sherlock Holmes 3?  When I spoke with Jude Law he said Warner Brothers was working on a script.

Dan Lin: Yeah, it’s still in development.  Drew Pearce is working on the script and Downey, as you know, is still finishing Iron Man 3 so we’re waiting for Downey to finish that movie and to get a script from Drew.

Both Sherlock movies have been very successful, is it a high priority for the studio?

Lin: Yes, it is a high priority for the studio and all for the filmmakers involved.

So it’s just a question of when the script is done.

Lin: Yeah, well we want to make the right movie.  We got a great response to the second movie and frankly the Moriarty character sets such a high bar that we want to make sure we’re telling the right story for the third movie.

That was the other question I wanted to ask you, obviously I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who has not seen the second film but the second film ends in such a way that it could go either way in the third film.  Do you envision that characters could return, if you will?

Lin: I don’t want to go into details about that I just want to say that there will be some new locations, new settings for the third movie.  Just like Sherlock for the second movie took us in a new location; the third movie will take us to a new location as well.

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