A sequel to ‚Downton Abbey‘ in theaters this December implies Hollywood thinks older audiences will be able and willing to go to the movies by Christmas.
Focus Features has announced that not only will we be getting a theatrical sequel to the Downton Abbey movie, but that the Carnival Films-produced sequel will open this Christmas. Franchise newbies Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West will join the original cast. No word on if Maggie Smith will reprise, since (spoilers for the first film) her character received a grim medical diagnosis in the last film’s climax. The previous Downton Abbey film, released in October of 2019, had a certain “end of the road” mentality not unlike James Bobin and Jason Segal’s The Muppets in 2011. We’ll see if Downton Abbey 2, penned by Julian Fellowes, produced by Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge and directed by Simon Curtis, will be at least as good as Muppets Most Wanted. The Focus Features-distributed film, which will presumably have a smooth shoot mostly in and around the title locale (IE – less challenges for Covid-era production), will open theatrically on December 22, alongside Warner Bros.’ The Matrix 4 and Universal and Illumination’s Sing 2 and 20th Century Pictures and Disney’s The Kings Man. Christmas is quickly turning into a conventional year-end pile-up, with Spider-Man: No Way Home opening on December 17 and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (from 20th Century and Disney) launching December 10. With 1/2 of all American adults at least partially vaccinated (I get my first shot tomorrow) and 1/3 entirely vaccinated, and with NYC lifting capacity levels to 33%, it is quite apparent that Hollywood thinks that American moviegoers, even (much) older adults, will be both able and willing to go to the movies this Christmas.
