EXCLUSIVE: Downey Jr. confirms Sherlock Holmes 3 shooting this year

In an exclusive interview with ShortList, Robert Downey Jr. said he and director Guy Ritchie, who directed the first two instalments of Sherlock Holmes, would be starting work on a third film before the end of the year.

“We’re talking about it right now,” said the actor. "We can do some preliminary stuff.”

He admitted that their busy schedules caused the delay in following up 2011’s A Game of Shadows, which saw Holmes fake his death after a fight with his nemesis Moriarty.

“If we could shoot it on Skype, we could have the whole [movie] done in a week,” he admitted. “When we’re making those Sherlock movies it is off the hook. [So] we’ll attempt to make one this year. It really is a big deal to go and do those movies. I’m tired all the time, but I’m so excited about it."

The scampish star also let slip to ShortList he would be in the UK as part of the promotional tour for Captain America: Civil War, and was looking forward to discussing Holmes with Ritchie as part of his trip to London.

“He’ll say ‘I’ll meet you on my bike’, all that sort of macho stuff,” he said. “I’ve always considered riding a bike in London as taking your life in your own hands. Guy makes it look easy.”

Captain America: Civil War sees former allies Tony Stark and Steve Rogers come to blows over government plans to curb the Avengers’ vigilante behaviour by making them work for the UN. Trailers have shown the pair leading their own factions of Marvel characters – including Black Widow, Vision, Hawkeye and Falcon – into a huge battle.

Downey Jr. praised the new additions to the Marvel universe – including Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and Tom Holland as Spider-man, saying “I have so much admiration for everybody.

“[Boseman] is a really big deal. Softly spoken, but extremely dynamic. And that takes nothing away from [Anthony] Mackie [The Falcon], who knows how to hold court.”

Read the full interview with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in this week’s issue or clicking here.