'Downton Abbey' to return with a third movie

The fictitious Crawley family and their servants running a sprawling English country estate in the early 20th century are set to return. Photo: Handout

The fictitious Crawley family and their servants running a sprawling English country estate in the early 20th century are returning for a third Downton Abbey movie, which will feature old and new faces.

The award-winning Downton Abbey gained a huge following in Britain and the United States after it first aired as a television series in 2010. It went on for six seasons and was followed by two films, released in 2019 and 2022.

In a statement on Monday, Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Carnival Films said series creator Julian Fellowes had written the third film in the Downton Abbey franchise and that many original cast members, including Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern - who play patriarch Robert Crawley and his wife Cora, respectively - would return for the new movie.

The Holdovers actor and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Joely Richardson, most recently seen in Netflix series The Gentlemen, join the cast with the former playing Cora's brother brother Harold Levinson, the statement added. Giamatti played the character in a Christmas special.

The Crown star Dominic West, who played actor Guy Dexter in the 2022 film Downton Abbey: A New Era, will reprise the role in the new movie.

Simon Curtis will also return as director after helming the second movie. – Reuters