[Susan Foreman]

Downton Abbey 2: The Revenge / Variety

"‘Downton Abbey 2’ Hitting Theaters in December With Original Cast Returning

...Focus Features will shoot a sequel to the hit movie, itself a spinoff of the long-running television series. The original principal cast will all once again return for the second film, which began production last week and is set to release on December 22, 2021.

Gareth Neame’s Carnival Films will co-produce the picture. In addition to the original cast, Hugh Dancy (“Hannibal”), Laura Haddock (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), Nathalie Baye (“Catch Me If You Can”) and Dominic West (“The Wire”) will join the festivities, providing viewers with a heavily romanticized view of the good old English class system along with a healthy dollop of real-estate envy. “Downton” creator Julian Fellowes will once again write the film’s screenplay, with Emmy and BAFTA Award winner Neame and Emmy Award-winning Liz Trubridge back to produce alongside him. Simon Curtis (“My Week with Marilyn”) will direct the sequel.

Neame, the film’s producer and executive chairman of Carnival Films, said that follow-up was the perfect antidote to a terrible year and change.

“After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be reunited with the much beloved characters of Downton Abbey,” he said."