Fans of British historical dramas will be stoked to hear that a second Downton Abbey movie with original casting has been confirmed for theatres this Christmas.
Downton creator Julian Fellowes will return to write the screenplay for the highly anticipated film, which will be released in cinemas on December 22.
Fellowes reportedly started working on the sequel to the period drama shortly after he finished scripting HBO’s The Gilded Age.
After his TCA press tour to promote Epixand ITV drama Belgravia in January, Fellowes said that he is currently in pre-production for the long-awaited drama series and expects to shoot later this year.
The 2019 film adaption of the much-loved television series grossed $193 million (USD) worldwide. Surpassing Oscar winner Brokeback Mountain’s $178 million worldwide gross box office to become Focus Features’ highest-grossing title of all time in the US.
Gareth Neame, a producer on both the 20th Century based ITV series and movie, first teased the news of a potential sequel in November 2019 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“We’re having those conversations. We’re working on what the story is, and when we might be able to make it,” Neame said at the time.
“But it’s the same as the first time around: We have to try to get everyone back together again. And that was very challenging.”
In February 2021, Hugh Bonneville, who played the Earl of Grantham, teased the sequel on a BBC radio’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show.
“It’s the usual thing. The planets are circling. They are beginning to get into alignment. There is a thing called coronavirus knocking around and until that is under control in a sensible way, we are not going to be able to get all those ducks in a row.
“But there is certainly the intention to do it. We would love to do it, we are desperate to do it, and I think it’s the sort of pleasurable release of a movie like the first one was, that audiences would enjoy after all of this mess we have been through.”
The ending to the first Downton Abbey feature film suggested Maggie Smith’s character, the sharp-witted Violet Crawley, may not return for a sequel. However, Neame says there’s a chance Smith could reprise her role.
“All I would say is that one of the things that’s been commented on over the years about Downton is that we’ve had plenty of medical misdiagnoses,” he said.
In a recent interview, Fellowes also teased there was a possibility of Smith’s return.
“We should remember that at the end of the film, Maggie was by no means dead,” he said.
“You imagine Violet is on her way out, but that decision hasn’t been reached.”
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Written by Brianna O’Rourke
