‘Downton Abbey 3’ Is Officially a Go: See Who’s Returning

Downton Abbey 3 is officially happening.

The latest chapter in the Crawleys’ story will follow on from 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era and will once again be written by Downton creator Julian Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis, Focus Features and Carnival Films said on Monday, May 13.

Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham), Elisabeth McGovern (Lady Cora) and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) will all reprise their roles as the aristocratic Crawley family, along with Allen Leech (Tom Branson) and Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley).

Other returning stars include the Crawleys’ trusted domestic staff played by Jim Carter (Mr. Carson), Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates), Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates), Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore), Sophie McShera (Daisy Parker), Michael Fox (Andy Parker), Robert James-Collier (Thomas Barrow), Kevin Doyle (Mr. Molesley) and Raquel Cassidy (Phyllis Baxter).

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Notable by her absence is actress Maggie Smith, whose beloved character Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, died at the end of the 2022 movie.

But the Crawleys will have a new family member in their midst as recent Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti is set to reprise his role as Cora’s brother, Harold Levinson. Giamatti, who is coming off a best supporting actor nomination for The Holdovers, first played the part in Downton Abbey season 4.

Giamatti will be joined by fellow newcomers Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), Alessandro Nivola (The Many Saints of Newark), Arty Froushan and Simon Russell Beale.

Dominic West will also reprise his role as actor Guy Dexter from 2022’s A New Era.

Downton Abbey initially launched as a beloved period drama that aired six seasons between 2011 and 2016 on PBS. The acclaimed series won numerous Emmys and Golden Globes and went on to spawn two spinoff movies, the first of which hit theaters in 2018.

There has been much speculation about a third Downton Abbey movie since A New Era arrived in theaters in 2022.

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Bonneville, who plays Crawley patriarch Robert (or Lord Grantham), previously hinted that the second movie might be the final chapter in the franchise.

"A third movie? I don't know. I was thinking there was probably an energy for it, but I suspect things have moved on and that's a good way to finish,” Bonneville told Business Insider in 2022.

“I think the second film was such a joyous one and such a good note on which to end the story,” he said in a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “And it does feel like it can end. There’s still open doors in it, but I think it might be the right time to stop.”