Last night, U.S. fans welcomed Sherlock back to the small screen with the Season 3 premiere "The Empty Hearse", which debuted for U.K. audiences on New Year's Day. The show is more popular than ever these days, with stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman becoming genuine movie stars over the past few years. As the two stars continue to take on more high profile projects, such as The Hobbit and Star Trek, will fans ever get to see a Sherlock movie?

Co-creator/executive producer Steven Moffat recently teased a Sherlock theatrical film, and also spoke about how lucky he is to make the show with two rising stars. When asked about the prospects for a movie, he could only play coy about the notion.

"We don't rule anything out."

Sherlock already lends itself to a theatrical format, since each episode runs 90 minutes long, and there are only three per season. Still, the show is showing no signs of slowing down, and with the stars' increasingly busy schedules, it isn't known if they'd even have time to make a Sherlock feature in the near future alongside the continuing series.

When the show first debuted in 2010, stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were not household names, but that has certainly changed following Benedict Cumberbatch's high-profile turns in Star Trek Into Darkness and 12 Years a Slave, and Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Steven Moffat talked about how fortunate he is to make this TV show with two major movie stars, which may not have happened if they were this popular back in 2010.

"There's something quite special about the fact that it's on television, starring those two. That wasn't the case in the beginning. Mark (Gatiss), Sherlock co-creator) and I sometimes imagine what would happen if we had written it now and were saying, 'We'd like Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman for the parts!'"

Would you love to see Sherlock on the big screen? Chime in with your thoughts below. Season 3 continues Sunday, January 26 with "The Sign of Three" and concludes Sunday, February 2 with "His Last Vow".