The Crawleys return to iconic manor for third ‘Downton Abbey’ film

Series creator Julian Fellowes has announced the latest installment in the historical drama franchise

LONDON:

The fictitious Crawley family and their servants running a sprawling English country estate in the early 20th century are returning for a third Downton Abbey movie, which will feature old and new faces. The award-winning franchise gained a huge following in Britain and the United States after it first aired as a television series in 2010. It went on for six seasons and was followed by two films, released in 2019 and 2022.

In a statement on Monday, Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Carnival Films said series creator Julian Fellowes had written the third film in the Downton Abbey franchise and that many original cast members, including Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern - who play patriarch Robert Crawley and his wife Cora, respectively - would return for the new movie.

The Holdovers actor and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Joely Richardson, most recently seen in the Netflix series The Gentlemen, join the cast with the former playing Cora's brother brother Harold Levinson, the statement added. Giamatti played the character in a Christmas special.

The Crown star Dominic West, who played actor Guy Dexter in the 2022 film Downton Abbey: A New Era, will reprise the role in the new movie. Simon Curtis will also return as director after helming the second movie. Set in 1928, Downton Abbey: A New Era, sees a film crew arrive at Downton as well as some family members travel to the French Riviera.

The film begins with Crawley's mother, Lady Violet, played by veteran Maggie Smith, surprising her family with news she has inherited a villa in the south of France from a man she met decades earlier.

Led by Crawley, the family heads off to visit the property. At the same time, a film crew sets up at Downton Abbey, delighting the staff. Having a film set within a film set was fun - and a little confusing sometimes, said Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary.

"We've had a very good run. I think we've been very lucky. We've kicked off a lot of careers of young players," writer Julian Fellowes said in 2022 when asked if another film might follow. "It's dangerous to say this, but I think most people who've worked on it have had a pretty good time and that feels like enough to me. But we'll see. I don't think you can ever tell really."

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