Everything we know about Downton Abbey 3 as release date announced

Good news for all those who know their soup spoon from their salad fork – Downton Abbey 3 is officially in the works and will be gracing cinemas with its presence in 2025.

The movie follows 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, the sequel to 2019’s Downton Abbey, the film adaptation of Julian Fellowes’ popular high-society drama that ran for six series on ITV.

The show followed the ups and downs of the upper-class Crawley family, owners of the eponymous Downton Abbey, an airy and extravagant stately home in picturesque Yorkshire.

At the same time, audiences were equally drawn in and delighted by the lives of their serving staff who keep the Abbey running, wait on its owners and find their lives deeply intertwined with that of their employers.

This upstairs-downstairs dynamic proved popular with audiences on both sides of the pond, with US viewers enjoying Downton Abbey just as much as the Brits. With the story now taking place on the big screen, here’s what we can expect from the franchise’s third big-screen outing…

When will Downton Abbey 3 be released?

Downton Abbey 3 is coming to cinemas globally on 12 September, 2025, Focus Features and Universal Pictures has announced.

Is there a trailer for Downton Abbey 3?

Unfortunately, there’s no trailer for Downton Abbey 3. Those fancy suits and ballgowns take some getting into, you know. It’ll likely be a while yet before everyone’s ready for their close-ups.

What will happen in Downton Abbey 3?

After lots of rumours, unconvincing denials and swiftly dodged interview questions, production on Downton Abbey 3 was officially confirmed in early May, along with some cast details and information on its writer and directing team.

Fans were treated to a short video posted on to Downton’s official X account which made the news public. In it, various Downton cast members can be seen greeting each other and preparing for a table read of the script.

Eventually, Lady Mary star Michelle Dockery tells viewers that production on the third film is currently underway.

“Focus Features and Carnival Films are thrilled to announce the third film in the beloved Downton Abbey franchise,” said the accompanying caption.

We also learned that the threequel will be written by series creator Fellowes and directed by Simon Curtis, who returns to the fold after helming 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era.

In fact, the only thing missing was plot details, with information about what this new story might entail being kept closer to the team’s chest than an ill-fitting corset. That said, we did get some cast details which may point towards the type of story Fellowes and Curtis are hoping to tell…

Who is in the Downton Abbey 3 cast?

Dockery will return as Lady Mary Talbot, daughter of Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley and Countess Cora Crawley, played by Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, who also return. Laura Carmichael is back as Mary’s sister Edith, with Jim Carter’s ex-head butler Carson, his wife Elise, played by Phyllis Logan, and Robert James-Collier as new head butler Thomas Barrow.

Allan Leech’s Tom Branson, Joanne Froggatt’s Anne Bates, Brendan Coyle’s John Bates, Penelope Wilton’s Lady Merton, Lesley Nicol’s Mrs Patmore, Sophie McShera’s Daisy and Kevin Doyle’s Mr Molesly are also returning.

Michael Fox’s Andy Parker, Raquel Cassidy’s Phyllis Baxter, Harry Hidden-Patron’s Bertie Pelham and Douglas Reith’s Lord Merton will be back too.

Together, these regulars will be joined by some returning guest stars including Paul Giamatti as Cora’s brother Harold who first appeared in a Christmas special.

He’ll be joined by Joely Richardson, The Many Saints of Newark’s Alessandro Nivola, The Death of Stalin’s Simon Russell Beale and US actor Arty Froushan, suggesting the film might have more of a US-based storyline.

Fresh from The Crown, Dominic West returns to the Downton franchise as his New Era character Guy Dexter.

Downton Abbey 3 is in cinemas globally from 12 September, 2025.