'Sherlock' Season 4 Premiere Date Delayed: Will Benedict Cumberbatch Get Busy Playing Dr Strange on Big Screen?

"Sherlock" season 4 premiere date may get delayed. It was previously speculated that the new season would see the light of day in 2016 but with the busy schedules of the lead actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, season 4 may come a little later than expected, reports suggest.

Cumberbatch and Freeman are currently committed to the final title in "The Hobbit" trilogy and are apparently running on tight schedules.

Freeman plays protagonist Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit" trilogy, while Cumberbatch plays Smaug the dragon in the second and last films of the series. Speaking of his character, Cumberbatch suggested in an interview that Smaug is the ultimate dragon.

"He's just legendary in the world of The Hobbit, and he is the ultimate dragon. He's an extraordinary creation in the book. And what we've all managed to achieve - especially the people at WETA, the post-production and sound facilities in Wellington - is extraordinary. It's another leap forward in cinema, as Gravity was - an environment you can believe in totally, and with the 48 [frames per second] it's extraordinarily real," the 37-year-old actor told Den of Geek.

Meanwhile, Freeman had earlier suggested that Baggins finds his bravery when he lands in the world of different species.

"He is not a fighter or adventurer by nature – but he finds a bravery that he didn't know he had and, more importantly, that none of the others knew he had. It's a huge change for him to be among a different species that wants to kill him or eat him," Freeman told The Mirror.

Additionally, Cumberbatch is said to be a strong contender for the role of popular marvel comic character Doctor Strange. If he bags the role, one can't help but wonder how he would fit "Sherlock" in his schedule. 

Cumberbatch along with Tom Hardy is being considered to play Doctor Strange's character on screen. The character is created by Stan Lee and is one of the most prolific character, which has been rarely played on screen, reported Deadline.

Moreover, apart from the busy schedules of the actors, producer of "Sherlock", Steven Moffat had suggested in an interview that he is currently busy with the production of another series "Doctor Who" and has no idea when "Sherlock" Season 4 would hit television screens.

"I have no idea," Moffat told IGN, adding: "Sue's working on the schedules right now. I just started with Capaldi on the new series of Doctor Who. You know, we'll do what we can, but with no sacrifice in quality -- that's the thing. If people have to wait two years, they'll have to wait two years. When's the next James Bond film? You know, it's not that kind of show that turns up all the time. It's just not. But the good news is, that probably means it will turn up sporadically for a very, very long while."

Complete episodes of "Sherlock" Season 1, 2, 3 are now available on Netflix.