Drat!
Well, they tried but the pandemic was too much to overcome. “Downton Abbey 2” started late and will finish late. Originally scheduled for December 20, 2021, the sequel to the movie that followed the beloved PBS Carnival series will not be released until March 2022. They will miss Oscar eligibility cutoff on December 31st, but no matter: “Downton” is not for awards, it’s for its fans.
The first movie was a big box office hit, earning $96.8 million in the US and the same elsewhere around the world. Total worldwide take was $237 million.
This installment may very well be the end, as Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley aka the Dowager Countess, was set to expire in the last movie after announcing she had cancer. This will sadly wrap up her story. And the main saga, of the Crawley fortune, should end with Branson marrying the illegitimate daughter of Imelda Staunton’s Crawley cousin Maud Bagshaw. Thus, the dynasty will be preserved.
The Crawleys, thanks to creator Julian Fellowes, have remained stuck in limbo between 1925 and the world economic crash of 1929. With that impending doom would come the end of Great Houses like Downton as the Depression and World War II would usher out their place in British society.
So better to stop before things become grim, and remember all these wonderful people frozen in time. We can celebrate their finale in March 2022.
