The hit British TV drama Downton Abbey is finally getting its own movie.
The most successful costume/period series in 40 years, Downton Abbey picked up three Golden Globe Awards and 15 Primetime Emmy Awards over its six seasons (2010-2015).
According to PEOPLE, principal cast members Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern are all returning as well as many other longtime cast members.
No word yet, though, as to whether Robert James-Collier will return as the semi-villainous gay butler, "Thomas Barrow."
Throughout the show's six seasons, Barrow fell in love with straight men, underwent conversion therapy in an attempt to 'cure' his gayness and attempted suicide. In the series finale, however, he was recommended to become the new head butler for the estate.
The TODAY Show paid a visit to Highclere Castle in north Hampshire, UK to get a first look at the upcoming film set to premiere September 20, 2019, in the United States.
The creators, cast and crew are all being very tight-lipped about any storyline or even a hint about what may be in store for the the Crawley family and the servants who worked in their country home.
Although, in the video report below, Hugh Bonneville does attempt to trick us with his own fake storyline.
Handsome Allen Leech, who plays “Tom Branson,” recently told Vanity Fair that the film will be emotional. “It’s Julian (Fellowes) —you’re going to have tears. He’s never too saccharine-sweet, so be prepared for everything.”
“It’s a big, epic story that’s definitely going to fill the big screen,” Leech added. “That was our worry about taking the show from the small screen to the big screen. But you have Julian Fellowes, who won an Oscar for writing, and he’s done a great job with the story.”
Alastair Bruce, who serves as the historical advisor on the project recently posted on Twitter, "Last night, we left @HighclereCastle after the filming [what] we needed for the upcoming #DowntonAbbey film – we staged the last scene in the kitchen courtyard – exactly where we shot the very first @DowntonAbbey scene at the start of filming for series 1 #whatajourney."
Last night, we left @HighclereCastle after the filming we needed for the upcoming #DowntonAbbey film – we staged the last scene in the kitchen courtyard – exactly where we shot the very first @DowntonAbbey scene at the start of filming for series 1 #whatajourney @FocusFeatures pic.twitter.com/lAHGTUULZn
— Alastair Bruce (@AlastairBruce_) October 17, 2018
Cast and crew preparing to shoot a scene in a very recognisable bedroom! Can you tell us who it belongs to? #DowntonAbbeyFilm pic.twitter.com/KBpNfCYOBH
— Downton Abbey (@DowntonAbbey) November 6, 2018
For a time, there were questions as to whether the delightfully droll Dame Maggie Smith would return for the film
During an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, she was asked if she was glad the show was over and she answered in the affirmative, "Oh yeah."
"By the time we finished, [The Dowager Countess] must have been about 110. It couldn’t go on and on, it just didn’t make sense," she continued.
And during an interview at the British Film Institute, she worried aloud if the tale had been told. “I just think it's squeezing it dry, do you know what I mean?" she said.
Happily, though, Smith will be back and we’re already prepping ourselves for more of her drop-dead one-liners.
