‘Downton Abbey 2’ Is A Go With Original Cast And New Director, Arrives This Christmas

For someone who had never seen a single moment of a Downton Abbey episode, I quite enjoyed the movie released in 2019. And like most of the show’s millions of fans the main thing it left me with was a burning desire for Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess to prove not even death can fell an old battleaxe like her. Well, we’ll get to find out because a sequel is underway and has a release date.

Focus Features has announced the start of production on Downton Abbey 2, which will hit theaters this Christmas season on December 22nd. The original cast will be returning, so I’m assuming that includes Smith, along with new additions Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, and Dominic West.

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes will once again write the script, with Simon Curtis taking over as director. Curtis is known for his films My Week with Marilyn, Woman in Gold, Goodbye Christopher Robin, and most recently The Art of Racing in the Rain.

The previous film earned nearly $200M worldwide and rumblings about a sequel began soon after.

So where do things go from here? They’ve already been visited by the king and queen, right? What’s next? Maybe somebody accidentally breaks the good china?  The silver hasn’t been polished in a week? The scandal!

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.