The Crawley family is on a new adventure in the full-length trailer for the Downton Abbey sequel film that arrives in theaters on May 20. The trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era, which dropped February 15, shows Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael), Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), and the rest of the British aristocratic family taking a vacation to the Dowager Countess’ (Maggie Smith) villa in the South of France that she recently inherited. But as expected, plenty of drama arises on the family getaway.
“Years ago before you were born, I met a man,” the Dowager Countess explains in the trailer. After spending a few days together, this man gave her a house in the South of France: the villa of the Doves. When the crew heads to the villa, Mr. Carson discovers a picture of a young Dowager. Lord Grantham begins to wonder why they’ve been brought to the villa.
Meanwhile, a man named Mister Barber, played by Hugh Dancy, wants to make a movie at Downton. Actors fill the halls as the motion picture gets underway. While some members of the family aren’t too happy about the film, Lady Mary embraces it all.
Downton Abbey 2 is directed by Simon Curtis and also stars Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates), Jim Carter (Mr. Carson), Elizabeth McGovern (Cora Crawley), Allen Leech (Tom Branson), Brendan Coyle (John Bates), and more. They’ll be joined by newcomers Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, and Dominic West. The sequel to the original 2019 film was first announced in April 2021 by Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski. Production on the movie began in the second full week of April and wrapped later in the summer.
The highly-anticipated sequel comes over two and a half years after the first Downton Abbey movie. The film, the first sequel after the hit series, was a box office hit and earned over $194 million at the worldwide box office. The Downton Abbey series ran for 6 seasons and won 15 Emmys and 3 Golden Globes during its run.