Second helping of Downton movie could already be on the menu . . .
a SeConD Downton abbey film is in the offing, six months before the first opens. The lives of the Crawley family upstairs and their staff downstairs fascinated iTv audiences for six years.
a follow-up movie written by Julian Fellowes was shot last year, with Hugh Bonneville as lord Grantham, elizabeth mcGovern as his wife Cora, and their daughters lady mary (michelle Dockery) and lady edith (laura Carmichael) gathered again with maggie Smith as violet, the Dowager Countess.
also returning are many of Downton’s downstairs contingent played by Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, Sophie mcShera, Rob James-Collier, Phyllis logan, Jim Carter and lesley nicol; plus (upstairs again) Penelope Wilton as isobel Crawley and a newcomer to the Downton cast, imelda Staunton.
Bosses from Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Carnival Film & Television were preparing to view the latest cut of the film, shot in and around Highclere Castle in Hampshire and ealing Studios. a handful have already watched an unfinished version and i hear there was much delight at how it turned out.
People i spoke to in los angeles and london told me they’re exploring the possibility of a second picture.
it would clearly depend on how well the first film does when it’s released on September 13 and whether the cast can be reassembled.
But Downton abbey is a muchloved show with characters who have become part of popular culture around the world.
let’s hope movie-goers are on their best behaviour watching Downton on the big screen.
Better still, i think Universal should get maggie Smith to record a voiceover telling them not to talk during it.
Though i wonder if violet (who as a lady of leisure famously asked: ‘What is a weekend?’) knows what a cinema is, either?