Downton Abbey.Photo: PBS
Downton Abbeylives on!
Downton Abbey 2is expected to begin production this month and feature the return of the original movie’s cast, which included Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton and Penelope Wilton. The film will also feature new cast members Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West.
Creator Julian Fellows will once again write the film’s screenplay and produce alongside Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge. Simon Curtis will return to direct the sequel.
“After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be re-united with the much beloved characters ofDownton Abbey,” Neame said in a release.
Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski added, “There’s no place like home for the holidays, and we can’t imagine a better gift than getting to reunite with Julian, Gareth, and the entireDowntonfamily in 2021 to bring the Crawley’s back home for their fans.”
Dowton Abbey.Jaap Buitendijk/Focus Features
The film grossed nearly $97 million at the domestic box office, becoming Focus Features' highest-grossing film of all time.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
The majority of the film’s cast had returned from the hit PBS television series, which came to an end in 2015.
The critically acclaimed show, which took place in the early 20th century and followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked in their home, won three Golden Globe Awards and 15 Primetime Emmys during itssix-season run.
Details of the second movie are still under wraps, but several cast members told PEOPLE in 2019 that they’d be open for a sequel.
“We would!” Dockery assured of her return.
Added Bonneville, “It’s sort of a complete downer because there’s not another one next week. There is an appetite and an affection for it that hopefully we can satisfy in the future.”
Downton Abbey 2is in theaters on December 22, 2021.
source: people.com
