The game may not be fully afoot just yet, but Sherlock Holmes 3 has finally received the kind of update fans have been waiting years to hear. After more than a decade of delays, changing release dates, and comments that have ranged between enthusiastic but noncommittal to production starting tomorrow, we now have an official update from someone actually working on the movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law may want to dust off their Victorian costumes.

Chris Brancato, who is listed as a screenwriter on the long-delayed third film, shared an exciting update on the future of Guy Ritchie‘s Sherlock Holmes saga, while promoting his latest series, The Westies. Brancato was cautious about its chances of going ahead imminently, noting that Downey Jr.‘s schedule was quite busy, what with bringing about Doomsday upon us and all, but he did reveal that he’s already penned a script.

“Well, I don’t know, that’s up to the movie gods,” Brancato said to The Direct. “Also, Robert’s schedule. Robert has a very, very busy schedule, so I’m hopeful that it will get made. But you know, we have to wait and see how things shake out. You just never know with movies.”

When asked whether a completed script exists, Brancato gave a much clearer answer. “Oh, yes, yes. I wrote a draft.” His The Westies co-creator Michael Panes added, “And it’s very good.”

Will ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ Happen?

The man behind the franchise isn’t giving up hope, either. Ritchie still very much wants it to happen, but he also emphasized that it’s a case of Downey Jr.‘s schedule lining up with his. Speaking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub for In the Grey, Ritchie opened up about whether his current work on Young Sherlock means his older Sherlock Holmes franchise is finished or if we’d get more.

“I’d love to,” Ritchie said. “I adore Downey, and I adored making those two movies. Look, I think it’s just honestly a question of just aligning our schedules. I know the appetite for it’s there, but the appetite for it from our side is there, too. So, we’d love to make that happen. I just don’t know how it’s going to happen. It’s amazing that it hasn’t happened.”

The cast of Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films includes Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) as Irene Adler, Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) as Inspector Lestrade, Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone) as Mary Morstan, Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service) as Lord Blackwood, and Jared Harris (Mad Men) as Professor Moriarty.

via Collider