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The ‘Downton Abbey’ Sequel Trailer Just Dropped With A Big Reveal From The Dowager Countess

'Downton Abbey: A New Era' hits theaters on March 18, 2022.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

The Crawleys and their staff are back! It's been two years since the first Downton Abbey feature film hit cinema screens and became a box office success. Now, the trailer for the upcoming sequel is here! Focus Features dropped the trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era on Monday, with Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess dropping a massive surprise! "Years ago, before you were born, I met a man," she shares in the trailer. "And now, I've come into the possession of a villa in the South of France." Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), like the rest of us, responded with a dropped jaw, "What?"



 

The sequel will pick up from the last film that came out in 2019. Dowager Countess implied that her time was coming to an end at the conclusion of the first film, so it'll be interesting to see where the upcoming film will go in terms of the storyline. At the end of the trailer, she cheekily dismisses herself in dramatic fashion: "And with that, I will say goodnight and leave you to discuss my mysterious past." Watch the trailer below!



 

Returning cast members include Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Lesley Nicol, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton and, Maggie Smith.



 

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes told PEOPLE the upcoming sequel will be an "unashamedly feel-good movie." "I like the idea that people go into the movie and have a great two hours and then go out to have dinner. That seems to me to be a good thing," Fellowes said. "If we are useful for cheering people up and giving them an easy time of it, that doesn't bother me."

Speaking of the sequel, he shared, "It's really a new era. The further the '20s went along, the more the world was changing in so many ways. Everything from entertainment to transport was really different by the end of the '20s. That's what we're referring to in that." And of the character played by Michelle Dockery, the Oscar-winning writer added, "As we know from the last film, Mary may not be the titular head of the household, but she is effectively running the show. We take that further. We're trying to mark the change—the fact that Crawleys of Downton are nearly in the 1930s, which is merely the beginning of the modern world."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Downton Abbey: A New Era—produced again by Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge, and Fellowes for Carnival Films—will be out in theaters on March 18, 2022.