DOWNTON REVISITED
THE HIT SHOW’S CREATOR SAYS HE’S BEEN PLANNING THE NEXT INSTALMENT
A movie is being planned
Amovie based on the smash hit TV show Downton Abbey is set to be released next year, but its creator Lord Julian Fellowes has hinted the eagerly awaited film may be a prequel to the original series.
The period drama, which followed the lives of the Crawley family and its servants at their Georgian estate in Great Britain, won the hearts of millions of fans around the world when it launched back in 2010.
But with filming due to start soon, the show’s writer has revealed some of the series’ biggest stars – including Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville (53) and Lily James – may not be returning to thrill fans on the big screen.
Lord Fellowes (67) who won an Oscar for his 2001 period film Gosford Park, says, “I doubt we could re-cast the film if it was continuous of the TV drama. I don’t think that would work.
“I think it would be possible to do a prequel that was re-cast and do a sort of a love story so you went right back and had the young cast arriving in the show as footmen and characters, like the cook Mrs Patmore being a kitchen maid.
“It would work if you told everyone’s story from 30 years before we first saw them. You could do that with a different cast. If you followed the TV series on with a film, the audience would just say,
‘No, it’s not right.’
“There are many factors, like all the actors in Downton, we made famous. Now they have all gone off and are doing films, theatre or TV series so it will be quite difficult rounding them up.“
Lord Fellowes’ decision makes sense with major Downton cast members, including Michelle Dockery (35) and Lily James (28) currently working in film and television in the US. Dame Maggie Smith (82) has also expressed contempt for a film, saying, “I can’t be in it. What age would my character be?“
Despite a possible re-casting, Lord Fellowes hopes fans will accept his plans, admitting, “I have written a script. I have written the basis of it.
“When the director steps in, there will be more drafts and things change. But I did want to get my thoughts straight as to what it might be as I did not want to be cut short. I think there will be a film.
“It will be sad if we don’t do one. Most films are a punt and we have a solid audience waiting for it. The difficulty is rounding up the actors who have now gone off to the four corners of the earth, in Hollywood, on Broadway, doing plays, doing series and so on.“
If a film does not happen, Lord Fellowes assures fans the show will be back but not on TV, saying, “I won’t adapt my new script if the film does not happen. Downton as a TV series is finished now but we will either make the film or we won’t, or we will have the musical on stage, we will have an ice ballet or the Downton opera, but as a TV series it is finished.“
Although the show is now at an end, its success continues with a travelling exhibition which opened in Singapore just a few weeks ago featuring sets and costumes from the iconic show.
Lord Fellowes, who travelled to Singapore for the launch,
says the exhibition is scheduled to travel around the world and is fairly extensive. “Rooms have been re-produced and dining rooms and places such as the pantry in the show. We have 70 costumes and things being projected. As we were walking around it, the whole thing was so bizarre.
“I am pleased people continue to love the show.
I am very glad it happened to me. It was fun to be a part of. I remember when the show was at its peak, I would walk down 5th Avenue in New York and taxis would grind to a halt.
“Once I was in a bookshop in Manhattan and this woman followed me. When I asked if I could help her, she burst into tears and said, ‘Just make the character Edith happy.’ The show captured everyone’s imagination.“
Next up for Lord Fellowes is penning a new TV drama called The Gilded Age, which will focus on the wealthy aristocracy who made New
York what it is today.
The new series will focus on famous wealthy families, such as the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts and the Carnegies whose legacies live on in the Big Apple.
But even if it fails to reach the dizzy heights of Downton, Lord Fellowes is grateful he had the chance to enjoy the magic of the show that made him a household name.
“The Downton ride has been a very extraordinary ride for all of us, like a magic carpet ride,“he says. “I always thought it would find an audience but I had no idea about the scale of the whole thing.“
‘ I am pleased people continue to love the show. I am very glad it happened to me’