Downton Abbey 2 has officially been confirmed to be arriving in theatres on Christmas 2021. The production for the movie sequel started last week and the original cast is also set to return for the sequel. The production house also shared that the sequel will introduce 4 new characters in the story.

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Focus Features confirmed the news with a tweet that read, “We’re thrilled to announce that Julian Fellowes and the entire Downton cast are back for #DowntonAbbey2, with Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West joining! See the film in theatres this Christmas.”

The new cast who are joining the movie includes names like Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West. Carnival’s Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge will return to back the film while BAFTA and Emmy-nominated director Simon Curtis has been roped in to work on the sequel.

“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,” revealed Neame.

“There’s no place like home for the holidays, and we can’t imagine a better gift than getting to reunite with Julian, Gareth, and the entire Downton family in 2021 to bring the Crawley’s back home for their fans,” said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski.

Hugh Bonneville also shared a picture from the sets of Downton Abbey 2. He took to Twitter on Monday to share the picture with a caption that read, “Good to be back.” Bonneville is best known for playing Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in the series.

The first part of the franchise released in 2019. It was the first return of the Crawley family since the highly acclaimed Downton Abbey series ended in 2016.