Almost eight years ago writer/director Julian Fellowes essentially tried to remake “Gosford Park” for television and he succeeded with “Downton Abbey,” a PBS-like masterpiece theater period-piece drama chronicling of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early 20th Century (just like the split of class in ‘Gosford,’ the series centered on the help that worked downstairs and nobility upstairs and how they negotiated that fine line). ‘Abbey’ was a huge, massive cultural phenomenon to the point you had Tony Stark making now-dated “Downton Abbey” jokes in “Iron Man 2” (technically it was Jon Favreau). But just as fast as it came, “Downton Abbey” nearly immediately jumped the shark at the end of season two in a big, big way (embarrassingly so) and culminating with the sudden departure of the show’s popular lead Dan Stevens who left to do more interesting things in Hollywood (a risky, but turns out one of the best choices he could have ever made; not everyone has fared so well, hello David Caruso).
So “Downton Abbey” was delightful, dramatic, engaging, funny, romantic, a kind of slightly guilty pleasure that was truly enjoyable, but what’s gone on for six years later is anyone’s guess and really only the die-hards. “Downton Abbey” fell off hard, but not hard obviously; Focus Features is making an entire movie (not that big of a surprise given how much period piece dramas are their thing, plus a solid relationship with Fellowes).
Serving mostly as a teaser, the first “The Downton Abbey” trailer doesn’t show a lot which isn’t a surprise given we’re almost a year away from the film actually being released.
“Downton Abbey” stars Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Joanne Froggatt, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Matthew Goode, and Allen Leech, reprising their roles. New additions to the cast include Imelda Staunton, Geraldine James, Simon Jones, David Haig, Tuppence Middleton, Kate Phillips, and Stephen Campbell Moore.
Series creator Fellowes wrote the script for the film, naturally, with Michael Engler directing. Engler helmed several episodes of the series during its run.
“Downton Abbey” is set to hit theaters on September 20, 2019, with an eye towards awards season.
Here’s the synopsis for the film:
The television series Downton Abbey followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country house. Over its 6 seasons, the series garnered 3 Golden Globe Awards, 15 Primetime Emmy Awards, 69 Emmy nominations in total, making Downton Abbey the most nominated non-US television show in the history of the Emmys – even earning a Special BAFTA award and a Guinness World Record for the highest critically rated TV show along the way.