Sherlock Co-Creator Reveals What's Holding Up a Reunion Movie

Sherlock, the BBC adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books, is deeply beloved, and folks have been talking about it more and more now that the series is streaming on Hulu. Sherlock was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and ran for four seasons between 2010 and 2017. Moffat and Gatiss are often found fielding questions about a potential Sherlock movie, and Gatiss addressed the idea of a reunion film while attending the 2024 Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

"We'd like to make a film but trying to get everyone together is very difficult," Gatiss told Deadline, adding that if you want a definitive answer, you would have to ask the show's stars, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Freeman (John Watson). 

"People think you can just wave a wand," Gatiss added when asked about potential a timeline for a Sherlock film. "It's incredibly difficult to get people interested and get films made. I remember talking to Edgar Wright about Ant-Man, into which he put eight years of his life and then didn't make it. Eight years is not short of a decade."

In 2021, Cumberbatch said "never say never" when asked about a Sherlock return, but the actor didn't seem too hopeful about playing the iconic character again. In 2022, the show's creators spoke with Radio Times and were asked about a potential fifth season. 

"I'd do Sherlock again tomorrow, why ask me?" Moffat quipped. "Mark would do it tomorrow, Sue [Vertue, producer] would do it tomorrow – we'd all just do it again ... It's down to Benedict and Martin ... They were very loyal to that show over a very long while when it was out, when it definitely became their lowest paying job." 

"And I don't think that's necessarily what they want to do now – fair enough, absolutely fair enough. But if anyone thinks I'm the one getting in the way, I will confidently tell you I would start writing it tomorrow, if everybody else did too," he added.

Moffat also brought up the passing of Una Stubbs (Mrs. Hudson) and how it would be hard to make more Sherlock without her. "Maybe if we reassembled that set and she didn't magically appear, we might all be too sad to make a show," he said.

"So those are the facts. We would do it, I'd do it, Mark would do it, Sue would do it. We might be too sad to get through it. And we'd need our leading men and, quite understandably, they may well feel they've done their time," Moffat concluded.

Would you like a Sherlock movie? Tell us in the comments!