Downton Abbey Is Returning For A Third & “Final” Movie

Downton Abbey is returning for its third and final big-screen chapter, according to The Crown’s Imelda Staunton. The actor, who played Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting Maud Bagshaw in the first two movies, revealed on BBC Radio 2 that “there will be a final film.”

“There you go,” she told host Zoe Ball, to which she replied, “Wow, that’s pretty huge. I hope we haven’t got you in trouble.” Staunton quipped back, “I don’t care.”

On March 21, Downton Abbey co-star Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary Crawley, responded to the news on BBC Radio 6. “There’s not much more I can tell you! You’ll have to ask Julian,” she said, referring to show creator Julian Fellowes.

Fellowes has spoken before about the possibility of another film, although never in concrete terms like Staunton. “You never know if more is going to be wanted,” he told Radio Times in 2022. “People talk about stage plays and further movies, but I think it will be made clear to me if there’s a strong demand, and if that’s what people want, then I won’t fight it.”

The original Downton Abbey TV series aired for six seasons between 2010 and 2015. The drama spawned two big-screen adaptations, 2019’s Downton Abbey and 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, both of which earned a combined $287 million at the global box office.

The Sun claims that production on the third and final movie will commence in the summer of 2024. As for the cast and plot, the sequel will reportedly be set in the late 1920s, and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) will reportedly reprise the character of Harold Levinson from the 2013 Downton Abbey Christmas special.