Focus Features will release the Downton Abbey movie on Sept. 20, 2019, in North America and Universal Pictures International will debut it overseas a week earlier on Sept. 13, 2019.
“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 next September.”
Production began in late August. The companies had announced on July 13 that the original principal cast from the television series — including Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, and Hugh Bonneville — would return for the movie. Imelda Staunton, Geraldine James, Simon Jones, David Haig, Tuppence Middleton, Kate Phillips, and Stephen Campbell Moore have joined the cast.
Fellowes, who created the series and wrote the film’s screenplay, will produce alongside Neame and Liz Trubridge. Brian Percival, who directed the series’ pilot, will executive produce the movie, with Michael Engler (“30 Rock”) directing. Nigel Marchant will also return to executive produce.
The television series followed the lives of the fictional Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country home. During its six seasons from 2010 to 2015, the series won 15 Primetime Emmy Awards and 69 Emmy nominations in total, making Downton Abbey the most-nominated non-U.S. television show in the history of the Emmys.
