'Downton Abbey 3' Officially Announced
It was mid-March 2024 when Imelda Staunton broke the embargo on the third Downton Abbey film, confirming a third (and she claimed "final") movie was in the works. Staunton was not in the original show's cast, but her long-time husband, Jim Carter, starred as the butler, Mr. Carson, for six seasons. Upon the show moving to the big screen, Staunton was added to the cast as a long-lost cousin and foil to everyone's favorite bon mot machine, the Dowager Duchess Lady Violet (Maggie Smith). She was in a position to know, is what I'm saying.
It took two more months before Carnival Films and NBCUniversal, who produce the movies and own the rights to the franchise, said anything about Staunton's announcement. But on May 13, 2024, Focus Features, the movie outfit under the NBCU Universal Pictures banner responsible for the films, and Carnival Pictures broke their silence with a joint announcement that, indeed, a third Downton Abbey film was underway. However, it should be noted that though this is the third film, no one calls it the final one, at least not until the box office returns agree with that assessment.
Currently, the film is under the working title of Downton Abbey 3, but that is not expected to be the final title at this point. Along with the announcement, Focus Features also released a video of the cast as they got together for the first time since Downton Abbey: A New Era was released in 2022 for the first table read of the new script, and a quick message from Michelle Dockery to fans.
