Someone should buy Imelda Staunton a drink of her choosing today, as the legendary actor’s previous chatter about a third, and seemingly final, Downton Abbey film has panned out. While we probably shouldn’t expect Downton Abbey 3 to debut on the 2024 movie schedule, that project has now officially been confirmed. What’s more, there’s two returning cast members that are in the mix that have me intensely focused on what their presence means.
Introducing The Cast Of Downton Abbey 3
Let’s get the actual news out of the way: this third Downton movie has officially been announced by Focus Features and Carnival Films. The follow-up to 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, pretty much the entire main cast of the series is returning, along with some other key players that make for promising additions.
Here’s who we’re expecting, so far, per information from Focus Features:
Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Robert James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Penelope Wilton, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera, and Douglas Reith return for the third film, alongside exciting new additions Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, Arty Froushan, and many other fan favorites.
You can practically hear the theme music in your head, can’t you? It’s all coming together for Downton Abbey 3, as A New Era director Simon Curtis will be helming this latest sequel. And as you may have already guessed, series creator Julian Fellowes has written this new chapter in the Crawley family legacy.
However, I implore you to read that cast list a little more carefully. I say this, because in addition to new faces like Joely Richardson and Alessandro Nivola, and the (yet again) omission of Matthew Goode’s name on the cast block, there’s some exciting developments to be talked out.
Downton Abbey 3 does not have a release date set at this time. So there’s plenty of time to make sure the proper attire is ready for your trip to the cinema. Which means you also have the time to watch (or re-watch) all six seasons of the original series; as those adventures are currently available through the use of a Peacock subscription.