Downton Abbey Movie Sequel to Open This Christmas with Original Cast Returning Alongside Several Newcomers

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Back to the Abbey we go!

Focus Features announced early Monday morning that Downtown Abbey 2, a sequel to the 2019 movie based on the hit show, will premiere on Dec. 22 this year — just in time for Christmas. The film is already in production.

All of the original cast returns for the second outing, with Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West also joining in on the fun.

The first film saw Downton Abbey getting a royal visit from King George V and Queen Mary while the Abbey struggled.

Details of the second movie are still under wraps, but several cast members told PEOPLE in 2019 that they'd be open for a sequel.

"We would!" Michelle Dockery assured her return.

RELATED: Downton Abbey Stars Tease the 'Epic' New Movie and a Possible Sequel About the 'Next Generation'

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Added Hugh Bonneville, "It's sort of a complete downer because there's not another one next week. There is an appetite and an affection for it that hopefully we can satisfy in the future."

Bonneville was the one to get rumors about a sequel flying when he said he had already seen a script for the film earlier this year.

"If everybody who is offered a vaccine takes a vaccine, we can make a movie," Bonneville had said on British radio program The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. "We will make a movie. It's the usual thing, the planets are circling, they're beginning to get into alignment, but there's this thing called coronavirus knocking around. Until that is under control in a sensible way, we're not going to be able to get all those ducks in a row."