Our prayers for an update on the glamorous Crawley family have been answered.
According to EW, a film is officially in the works.
While it feels like we’ve been waiting for eternity for a Downton Abbey movie to hit the silver screen, it’s actually only been two years since the series wrapped up with that flawless Christmas special.
Michael Edelstein, president of NBCUniversal International Studios, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the movie has “been in the works for some time”.
“We are working on getting the script right and then we’ve got to figure out how to get the [cast] together,” Michael said.
While this all sounds positive, he wasn’t able to give a precise date to lock in the calendar, adding that, “We’re hopeful to make a movie sometime next year”.
We suppose we can wait that long…
Despite confirmation from the big wigs, it seems like nobody has passed on the good news to the cast as of yet.
“You’ve got confirmation before us,” Sophie McShera, who plays Daisy, told the AP before adding, “We would all love to be part of the film if it was to happen, for sure.”
Laura Charmichael, who plays Lady Edith also expressed her surprise at official confirmation for a film. “Tell my agent, because we’re still wanting to know,” she said.
Creator Julian Fellows has previously teased that a Downton movie was always likely to happen, admitting that he had worked on the script before there was any word of a green light for the project.
Earlier this year, Maggie Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess, shared her thoughts on how the Downton movie could begin. Alas, it wouldn’t be great news for her character…
“I could croak it. It would just start with the body. But I don’t know,” she said at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival.
We certainly hope that’s not the case, Downton Abbey just wouldn’t be the same without Maggie Smith.
