For a while everyone thought that that the adventures of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in “Sherlock Holmes and John Watson” were going to remain without a sequel, ever since the release of the second opus, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” Box office receipts were slightly higher than those of the previous film (545M v. 524), the third in the franchise was announced very hastily, and then, nothing happened for several years. Robert Downey, Jr., whose contract with Marvel as Tony Stark / Iron Man has kept him quite busy, says that the project is still in the works but that it must go through several phases of rewriting.

Let’s roll the videotape. On October 27, 2016 producer Joel Silver and Warner put together a pool of writers to plan the return of Arthur Conan Doyle’s hero. Among them, Nicole Perlman (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Vice Versa”) and Gary Whitta (“Rogue One”). The “Sherlock Holmes” project seemed back on track, even as things looked very dire, and very final, back in 2016. As Joel Silver told Collider then, “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.’”

Well, that’s a little presumptuous of Silver to say this, being that “Sherlock Holmes 3” was in limbo for quite some time. Until an announcement was made last May: that the new film would be released on December 25, 2020, a Christmas present way ahead of schedule. And, so, fans of the franchise will have to keep their shirt on and bide their time, until then.

Guy Ritchie on directorial duties has yet to be confirmed. But the “Snatch” director still has time to unwiggle himself from any other projects, since a 2020 release year would leave me to assume that shooting would take place mid-2019, at the earliest, right after the release of “Avengers 4.”

Hoping against hope for the new “Sherlock Holmes” coming “soon” to a theater near you.