Downton Abbey 3 Is Officially in Production—Here’s Everything We Know So Far

Downton Abbey famously ran for six seasons between 2010 and 2015 (although it should have stopped at three), with Downton Abbey: The Motion Picture released in 2019. If the series proper concluded in 1925, the first movie takes place two years later, in 1927, and revolves around the Crawleys and their staff foiling an assassination plot mounted against King George V. The second film, which premiered in 2022, had a meta twist to it, centering on the shooting of a “moving picture” at the Abbey (with a sojourn to the South of France thrown in for good measure).

Now, Focus Features has confirmed that production on the third film is underway, with Paul Giamatti reprising his role as Cora’s England-averse American brother, Harold Levinson, alongside Dominic West (who will be revisiting his part from Downton Abbey: A New Era), Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, et al.

Conspicuous in her absence from the announcement, however, is The Crown’s Imelda Staunton, who appeared as lady-in-waiting Maud Bagshaw in both Downton Abbey: The Motion Picture and Downton Abbey: A New Era, and is, of course, married to Jim Carter of Carson fame. Back in March, she told BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball that, yes, “There will be a final film—there you go.” Ball, in terribly British fashion, then apologized if she had prompted Staunton to speak out of NDA-clad turn. The Oscar nominee’s Violet Crawley-esque response? “I don’t care.” She’s sure to be missed by fans—though they can at least catch her as matchmaker Dolly Levi in the first West End revival of Hello, Dolly since 1984 at The London Palladium this summer.

And as for those joining the Downton Abbey franchise for the first time? Expect to see Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan. Meanwhile, the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, has penned the third feature; the second film’s helmer, Simon Curtis, is returning to direct; and while plot details are under wraps, a clip has been released showing the ensemble preparing for a table read. The sweeping music alone is enough to give you goosebumps.

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