Downton Abbey 3 Gets Fall Release Date

Bust out the tea and crumpets, and prepare to suppress anything resembling a strong emotion.

Yes, it’s almost time for more high ceilings and strictly observed rules of etiquette with the Crawley family!

Focus Features announced today that a third Downton Abbey film will hit theaters on September 12.

As you may know, Abbey fans are a devoted lot, so anticipation for this latest chapter in the Crawley clan saga is sky high.

Little is known about the plot at this point, but the lack of details is doing little to dampen the enthusiasm.

Downton creator Julian Fellowes is once again returning to direct, and a long list of series regulars will be reprising their original roles.

Variety is reporting that Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Robert James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Penelope Wilton and many more will be returning to picturesque Highclere Castle.

They’ll be joined by relative newcomers to the franchise like Dominic West, who’s fresh from his performance as King Charles III on The Crown.

Paul Giamatti will also be joining the cast, presumably reprising his role as Harold Levinson from the beloved Downton Abbey Season 4 Christmas Special.

West played a silent film star in the franchise’s second film, Downton Abbey: A New Era.

The last time we checked in on the Crawleys, they were mourning the loss of Maggie Smith’s stern yet beloved Dowager Countess of Grantham.

The torch has now been passed to Dockery’s Lady Mary who is tasked with the difficult job of keeping the family estate afloat.

You might think that a real estate market in which few young people can afford to buy their first home would affect Downton’s popularity in the States, but escapism has always been an integral part of the franchise’s appeal.

At this point, even stars of the show and films have suggested that the Downton franchise may have run its course, but like the heir of a grand country estate, Fellowes has creatively figured out ways to keep the enterprise running in the past.

And we have zero doubt that he’ll once again figure out a way to give the Downton diehards exactly what they want.

What do you think, TV fanatics? Are you politely excited for a return to Downton Abbey, or do you think it’s time for this franchise to go the way of the parasol and the silk ascot?

Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts.