“Downton Abbey” Movie To Start Production This Year? Dame Maggie Smith Says Revival Is “Squeezing It Dry,” But They Can Start With The Dowager Countess’ Funeral

At least two signs are pointing to the possibility of the multi-awarded British television series “Downton Abbey” to get a movie treatment starting this year.

Den of Geek said that back in January, Jim Carter, who played the fictional estate’s butler in the series, told Good Morning Britain that  “we’ve been asked to keep ourselves available for dates in the future, but nobody has seen a script”. This week, Cultbox’s latest report fueled that possibility when the site shared an update from the public relations representative of Jeremy Swift, who played the Dowager Countess’ butler Spratt.

The representative said, “Jeremy has also been asked to keep the end of this year free as the “Downton” movie will begin filming.”

Creator Julian Fellowes never shut down such rumors, and even stated previously that a movie adaptation could happen, if all of the stars aligned. He said then, “The thing about Downton is we have a lot of running characters and we really do need them for the movie, so you can imagine at the end of the show they all shot off into shows on Broadway, series in LA, things on television… and they somehow have to gradually be coaxed back into the fold.”

But if there’s one person who is against the movie adaptation, it would be the Dowager Countess herself, Dame Maggie Smith. Metro UK said the 82 year-old film and TV veteran has been very vocal about the fame attached to “Downton Abbey,” and how she lamented the trappings that came with it.

“I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey. I’m not kidding, I’d go to theatres, I’d go to galleries, things like that on my own and now I can’t and that’s awful,” she said.

When pressed if she’d come back for the movie adaptation, she fell short of saying no, but phrased it in a way that she’d want no part of it.

“I was firmly convinced it would start with the funeral. I could croak it and it would just start with the body. But I don’t know, they talk about there being a film but who knows? You might tell me if you do know. I just think it’s squeezing it dry, do you know what I mean?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know what it could possibly be … anyway, that’s not my problem,” she added.