EXCLUSIVE: Screenwriter James Coyne has been tapped to pen a rewrite of Sherlock Holmes 3. This re-kickstarts the threequel to Warner Bros’ franchise, which will return Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law and director Guy Ritchie. Ritchie/Wigram Productions, Team Downey, Silver Pictures, Dan Lin and Warner Bros are producing it.

It was October 2011 when Deadline broke the news that Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce had been set by the studio to pen the next installment of the series. That came just before the second pic, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows bowed. It ended up outgrossing the 2009 original with a $186.8 million domestic haul and a worldwide take of $545.4M.

Coyne reteams with Lionel Wigram and Warners, after he penned last year’s Black List script Treasure Island for them. He is repped by Gersh and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.