It does like “Downton Abbey: The Movie” is going to happen after all.
I’m told Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame are negotiating right now so they can get underway quickly. They’ve got to make the film while all the actors are still available.
The grand finale of the TV show comes March 6th on PBS. “Julian really tied up a lot of loose ends,” Phyllis Logan– plays Mrs. Hughes– told me at last night’s Great Britain event in Los Angeles, hosted by the British Consul. Logan did not tell me about the movie; I’d already heard that it was moving forward.
Other Downtoners at the event were Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore) and Joanna Froggatt (Anna). Logan and Nicol will be doing satellite radio and TV interviews next week for PBS to promote the final episode.
A “Downton” Movie conclusion to the series seems appropriate since the show is really the outgrowth of Fellowes’ Robert Altman directed 2001 film “Gosford Park.” Fellowes wrote “Gosford Park” with actor Bob Balaban. It would be a nice touch to see Balaban come to Downton and complete the circle.
By the way, with all those “Downton” people diverting me, I barely have time to mention the Brit event also brought out James Corden, Eddie Redmayne, cinematographer Roger Deakins, Idris Elba, Alicia Vikander, director Tom Hooper.Minnie Driver, her sister Kate (big talent manager in the UK), and so on. Jamie Cullum provided musical entertainment at Fig & Olive in West Hollywood.
