While its Sherlockian thunder might have somewhat been stolen by the likes of Sherlock and this year's Enola Holmes, Robert Downey Jr.'s Arthur Conan Doyle-based franchise still has a third entry in the works. And the actor/producer has plans for something more.
Talking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, Downey and producing partner Susan Downey outlined their idea for spin-offs from the Holmes films.
"At this point, we really feel that there is not a mystery-verse built out anywhere, and Conan Doyle is the definitive voice in that arena, I think, to this day," Downey said. "So to me, why do a third movie if you’re not going to be able to spin off into some real gems of diversity and other times and elements?"
The duo's idea is partly based on Downey Jr's experience in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "I do think that the decade of tutelage and observation, what we were both able to have with Marvel, watching them build out and see all the opportunities, was invaluable. It was like a master class,” Susan Downey adds. "And they really did know what they were doing and they had this tight-knit group of people from the jump locked into a vision that enables them to broaden."
Their plan, apparently, is to head to TV and other outlets, including HBO and streaming service HBO Max, the venue where they've already had success with Perry Mason. But they don't want to simply replicate what Marvel did – a smart move, since others have tried and failed. "We’re not repeaters, we don’t want to just do what’s been done somewhere else," Downey Jr. says. "But I think the model itself has become much more dimensionalized than it was before." For more from the pair, head to Fast Company's site.
Dexter Fletcher remains attached to make the new Holmes film, which has a release date set for December 2021, though we'll see if it keeps that given all the shifting in movie schedules.