Original Cast And Series Creator Returning For 'Downton Abbey' Feature Film

The body is barely cold but acclaimed British series “Downton Abbey” is being revived. But not in the way you might have expected.

Today, Focus Features announced plans to bring back the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series for a one-off film, set to begin production shortly. The series, which lasted from 2010 to 2015 is going to be the focus of a film, and the project is reuniting the original principal cast, as well as the series creator Julian Fellowes.

Focus didn’t release any plot details but did say that the script will be written by Fellowes, and the film will be directed by Brian Percival, who directed the pilot episode of the series, as well as the films “About a Girl” and “The Book Thief.”

Producer Gareth Neame said in a statement, “When the television series drew to a close it was our dream to bring the millions of global fans a movie and now, after getting many stars aligned, we are shortly to go into production. Julian’s script charms, thrills and entertains and in Brian Percival’s hands we aim to deliver everything that one would hope for as ‘Downton’ comes to the big screen”.

“Since the series ended, fans of ‘Downton’ have long been waiting for the Crawley family’s next chapter,” said Focus chairman Peter Kujawski. “We’re thrilled to join this incredible group of filmmakers, actors and craftspeople, led by Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame, in bringing back the world of ‘Downton’ to the big screen.”

As mentioned above, the series was a critical hit, collecting a total of 3 Golden Globe awards and 15 Emmys, and with 69 Emmy nominations in total, the series has the record for the most nominated non-US series in history.

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There’s no word on a release date, but production is scheduled to begin “later this summer.”