The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
TV hit Downton Abbey coming to big screen
Award-winning television drama cast reunite to produce new film
It’s official – Downton Abbey the movie is on its way with the original star cast of the television series reuniting for the film.
Producers said that the “original principal cast” from the period drama will return for the movie, to begin production later this summer, with a likely release next year.
Downton’s creator Julian Fellowes wrote the new screenplay and will also co-produce the hotly anticipated film.
The announcement has followed fevered speculation about when the ITV drama, starring Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Dame Maggie Smith, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and others would make it to the big screen.
Dockery, who played Lady Mary Crawley, wrote on Instagram: “The secret’s out ... thrilled to announce that Downton Abbey is coming to the big screen.”
Joanne Froggatt, who played Anna Bates, tweeted a snap of herself alongside Dockery and Dame Maggie Smith (who played Lady Crawley), writing: “Delighted to announce we’re getting the band back together!”
Brian Percival, whose credits include About A Girl and who directed the series’ pilot, will direct the film.
The film’s producer, Gareth Neame, said in a statement: “When the television series drew to a close it was our dream to bring the millions of global fans a movie and now, after getting many stars aligned, we are shortly to go into production.
“Julian’s script charms, thrills and entertains and in Brian Percival’s hands we aim to deliver everything that one would hope for as Downton comes to the big screen.”
Peter Kujawski, chairman of production company Focus Features, said: “Since the series ended, fans of Downton have long been waiting for the Crawley family’s next chapter.
“We’re thrilled to join this incredible group of film-makers, actors and craftspeople, led by Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame, in bringing back the world of Downton to the big screen.”
The hit television series Downton Abbey followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th Century in an Edwardian English country home.
It ran for six seasons on ITV in the UK and PBS in the US, won three Golden
It was our dream to bring the millions of global fans a movie
Globes and 15 Emmys from 69 nominations, which made it the most nominated non-US television show in the history of the awards.
Its enormous following is credited with kickstarting a revival in period drama on both the big and small screen, and propelling stars, including Bonneville and Dockery, to international fame.
Phyllis Logan, who played housekeeper Mrs Hughes, said the cast had been consulted about when they are available and added: “There’s a potential script coming our way, slightly rewritten.”