The new Downton Abbey movie looks completely excessive and unnecessary and I am totally here for it!
After a conclusion for the first feature film that really seemed like a capper on the Downton saga, the inevitable sequel (following the first’s smash box office success) is Downton Abbey: A New Era. By the looks of the new trailer, it lives up to that billing in more ways than one.
Not only is Downton-favorite the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) back — which was far from a foregone conclusion — but she has a secret from her past that leads the Crawley family on an adventure to the south of France.
Then, in the film’s apparent B-story, Hollywood invades the Abbey to use it as a location for a “talkie” in the early days of cinema. Both stories seem ripe for Anglophile fun and intrigue like only creator / writer Julian Fellowes can conjure.
Along with the full cast returning, Dominic West and Hugh Dancy are among the newcomers who are along for the meta-narrative of using the Abbey as a film set locale.
Directed by Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn, Woman in Gold), Downton Abbey: A New Era opens exclusively in theaters on May 20, 2022.
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