'Downton Abbey: A New Era' Gets A March Release Date

After retracting the initially planned holiday release date of Christmas 2021, the Downton Abbey sequel is back on the big-screen schedule. Producing partner Focus Features, the Comcast-owned indie studio that distributed the first Downton Abbey film, made the sequel a significant part of their presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week. As part of Universal Studios' overall presentation day, Focus Features screened the first trailer for the new film, confirming a new release date and a title. Downton Abbey: A New Era will debut only in theaters on Friday, March 18, 2022.

That Downton Abbey was getting a big-screen sequel was never a matter of if but when, after the first film broke box office expectations in a big way. What was a surprise was how fast production seemed to move once the announcement came. Getting the sprawling cast to line up their availability has been one of the biggest hurdles in producing more films. But the pandemic came with a silver lining that it upended so much of the U.K. filming schedule that Carnival Films and Focus Features could lock everyone in, with filming starting earlier this summer.

The initial Downton Abbey film, which followed a Royal Visit by the King and Queen of England to the Grantham Estate, was set in 1927, about 18 months after the series finale. The sequel was originally referred to as Downton Abbey 2, but the new film's title suggests the story will finally grow closer to the 1930s. Though fans don't know when the new movie will be set, a time jump of the same span would take the series right up to the end of the Roaring 20s and directly into the great depression and the first whispers of World War II.