Following the success of the warmly received Downton Abbey: The Motion Picture, the second film for the iconic costume drama is set to arrive next year. And now the first trailer for Downey Abbey 2 has been teased ahead of its exclusive debut in US cinemas with the movie Belfast this weekend. It’s currently unclear when Brits will get to see the full set of footage since Kenneth Branagh’s new film isn’t released in the UK until January, but no doubt news will arrive soon.
Downton Abbey: A New Era’s trailer teaser is only 15 seconds long but promises wedding bells for Tom Branson, a trip at sea and more as the storyline enters the 1930s.
Additionally, a set of stunning stills from the hotly-anticipated sequel arrived with the short clip, seeing characters getting ready to play lawn tennis.
There’s a shot of Hugh Bonneville’s Lord Grantham with his daughter and heir Mary, played by Michelle Dockery, presumably discussing her taking on more responsibility for the Downton estate.
Also among the pictures are servants Mrs Patmore and Daisy actresses Lesley Nicol and Sophia McShera, who are shown cooking in the kitchen.
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Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has teased an “unashamedly feel-good movie” for the sequel.
He told People: “It’s really a new era. The further the ’20s went along, the more the world was changing in so many ways.
“Everything from entertainment to transport was really different by the end of the ’20s. That’s what we’re referring to in that.”
“As we know from the last film, Mary may not be the titular head of the household, but she is effectively running the show.”
On Mary’s bigger role in running Downton Abbey, as previously teased in the first movie, Fellowes said: “We take that further,
“We’re trying to mark the change — the fact that Crawleys of Downton are nearly in the 1930s, which is merely the beginning of the modern world.”
Downton Abbey: A New Era sees the return of original cast members from six seasons and the first movie including Dockery, Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Charmichael and Jim Carter.
Joining them will be Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West, while Dame Maggie Smith’s Dowager Violet Crawley has been confirmed for the movie too.
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Fans had been wondering if Dame Maggie’s Dowager would return as she told Mary at the end of the last film that she was dying.
There was no footage of Violet in the trailer tease and she’s not in the wedding photo shot at Branson’s marriage, so maybe her part is just a cameo?
Perhaps the new film will open with the Dowager’s farewell, final words and death scene signalling the end of the old era and the beginning of the new.
Downton Abbey: A New Era lands in cinemas on March 18, 2022.
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