Sherlock Holmes 3 Taps Rocketman Director Dexter Fletcher: Report

Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law-starrer Sherlock Holmes 3 has reportedly found its director in Dexter Fletcher, who is best known for the Elton John biopic Rocketman, which released at the end of May in cinemas in India. Fletcher was also the replacement for Bryan Singer on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, after the latter was fired two-thirds of the way through production. On the Sherlock Holmes film franchise, Fletcher takes over from Guy Ritchie, who helmed the first two chapters: 2009's Sherlock Holmes and 2011's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Sherlock Holmes has been a commercially successful franchise for its producing partners Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, with the previous two films grossing over a billion dollars altogether, the sequel edging the first by 20 odd million. Critically, the 2009 original was received slightly better than the 2011 one, with a 70 to 60 percent score on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Variety — which brought word of Fletcher's hiring — notes Warner Bros. wanted to make a third film for a while, but Downey Jr.'s schedule as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hindered those efforts.

Downey Jr. and Law will return to helm their respective roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson on Sherlock Holmes 3, which has been written by Chris Brancato, best known for co-creating the Netflix series Narcos and its follow-up Narcos: Mexico. Susan Downey, Joel Silver, Dan Lin, and Lionel Wigram will serve as producers on Sherlock Holmes 3.

Fletcher is an actor-turned-director, having starred in the likes of Band of Brothers, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Smoking Guns, and Hotel Babylon.

The as-yet untitled Sherlock Holmes 3 is slated to release December 21, 2021, after being pushed from its original Christmas 2020 release date.