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It’s official: We’re all going back to Downton Abbey this Christmas

By Lacy Baugher

NBC'S RETURN TO DOWNTON ABBEY: A GRAND EVENT -- "Downton Abbey" -- Pictured: (l-r) Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Crawley, Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot -- (Photo by: Liam Daniel/Focus Features)
NBC'S RETURN TO DOWNTON ABBEY: A GRAND EVENT -- "Downton Abbey" -- Pictured: (l-r) Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Crawley, Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot -- (Photo by: Liam Daniel/Focus Features) /
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It’s official: The long-rumored second Downton Abbey film is finally confirmed – and it’ll be arriving in theaters sooner than we expected. Titled simply Downton Abbey 2, the sequel will feature the entire main cast and arrive in theaters this Christmas.

(Yes, original cast means Maggie Smith. No, no one knows how the Dowager Countess’s revelation of her illness in the last feature film will play in here, but as far as I am concerned Violet Crawley can live forever and I will not complain.)

Official production on the highly anticipated sequel began last week, and a few new faces will be showing up at Highclere Castle this time around. They include Hugh Dancy, Nathalie Baye, Laura Haddock, and Dominic West, all in as-yet-undisclosed roles.

Downton creator Julian Fellowes has one again penned the screenplay.

“After a very challenging year with so many of us separated from family and friends, it is a huge comfort to think that better times are ahead and that next Christmas we will be reunited with the much beloved characters of Downton Abbey,” executive producer Gareth Neame said in a statement.

The first Downton Abbey feature film smashed all box office expectations, drawing in over $230 million dollars worldwide. (That’s Marvel level money, for those who are keeping score at home.) The prospect of a sequel was always more of a question of when rather than if, after that – and whether the major players could all be wrangled back to spend a few weeks in the same location.

When will the next Downton Abbey movie be released?

Downton Abbey 2 will officially hit theaters on December 22.

The plot of the sequel remains firmly under wraps. The first Downton film followed a royal visit to the Crawley family and Downton staff from the King and Queen of England, providing a perfect reason for the far-flung Crawley clan to reunite at the family estate. Could we see something similar in the sequel?

We’ll have to wait and see.

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Are you excited about another Downton Abbey movie? Sound off in the comments.

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