Benedict Cumberbatch is keeping the door open for another season or even a movie followup to Sherlock, but it's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Between 2010 and 2017, Cumberbatch famously starred in four three-part seasons as the iconic fictional detective. As of now, the future of the franchise is unclear with no current plans for another installment.

Speaking with Collider in a new interview to promote his latest movie The Courier, Cumberbatch addressed the state of the Sherlock franchise. As the actor reveals, he's still open to doing more Sherlock if the right story comes along, but it would also depend on finding the time - something that Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't have much to spare right now. From the interview:

"I'm the worst person to ask on this because I never say never, obviously. But I don't know. And I'm the worst person to ask because my slate's pretty, pretty full at the moment, as is Martin [Freeman, Watson] and all the other key players involved. So, who knows? Maybe one day, if the script's right. And I say 'the script,' maybe it could be a film rather than the series. Who knows? But anyway, not for now."

Sherlock was created for television by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, based on the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The series has been met with widespread praise and even earned Cumberbatch an Outstanding Lead Actor Emmy Award. Moffat has previously claimed that he's already plotted a potential fifth season with Gatiss, and Cumberbatch has also been open before about his willingness to revisit Sherlock. Given the scheduling conflicts that would be bound to arise with Cumberbatch and co-star Martin Freeman, Moffat also said in 2019 that a revival is still up in the air.

Meanwhile, Cumberbatch isn't going anywhere with his other popular franchise role. After starring in Doctor Strange and appearing in several other Marvel movies, Cumberbatch has recently been working on the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is due to release in 2022. He can first be seen reprising the role once more in Spider-Man: No Way Home when it is released this December. It seems more than likely that he'll also be back for a potential Doctor Strange 3 if the second movie does well at the box office.

Cumberbatch wasn't kidding when he said he was busy. He also had been busy working on the movies The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and The Power of the Dog, both of which are scheduled to release this year as well.

For now, we can catch Cumberbatch in his newest movie when The Courier is released. Directed by Dominic Cooke, the movie tells the "true story of the British businessman who helped MI6 penetrate the Soviet nuclear program during the Cold War. Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), provided crucial intelligence that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis." The movie releases on March 19. This news comes to us from Collider.