Downton Abbey set for shock return 15 years on from first episode after raking in MILLIONS at the box office

A THIRD Downton Abbey movie is being made after the first two raked in more than £220million at the box office.

Filming on the period drama, the latest spin-off from the popular ITV series which ran from 2010 to 2015, is scheduled to start within months.

The same creative team and cast are expected to return to Highclere Castle in Hampshire this summer with the film scheduled for international release in 2025.

An insider said: “This will be huge news for fans of the show who have remained just as addicted to Downton long after it went from telly drama to movie blockbuster.

“There has been endless speculation about whether there would be a third movie and when it would be released, but finally devotees have had their prayers answered.

“The first two films proved such a success that a third one seemed inevitable, but the biggest problem was the logistics of bringing the cast back together as their diaries are all so packed.”

The first Downton movie was released in 2019, with Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as central characters, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and Laura Carmichael as their daughter, Lady Edith.

Along with Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, they all returned in the 2022 sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era, with the action divided between the stately home and the south of France.

The third movie, also being made by Carnival Films, is expected to pick up where the sequel left off, in the late-1920s.

After the previous Downton film was released two years ago, writer Julian Fellowes said: “We were lucky to reassemble our cast.

“I think for them it’s become a sort of club. They say goodbye, everyone cries and two years later, we’re back at it.”

“I think each time it’s goodbye, but whether it is or not, who knows?”