Downton Abbey 3 will honor the memory of the late Dame Maggie Smith, according to onscreen son Hugh Bonneville.
“We finished a third — and I think probably final — Downton Abbey film this summer, which will come out next September and that is a wonderful sort of closing off of all the stories, so it’s a proper film for the fans,” Bonneville, 60, said Thursday, October 31, on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radion U.K.
Bonneville, who plays Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, in the franchise, starred opposite Smith in six seasons of PBS’ award-winning Downton and two spinoff movies. Smith played the sharptongued Crawley family matriarch Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess, until the character died in the second movie, Downton Abbey: A New Era, released in 2022. Smith herself died at age 89 in September.
“It’s very much set in the house and saying goodbye to all these characters and we obviously say goodbye to Dame Maggie, which was very poignant on screen and now in real life,” Bonneville told host Chris Evans. “She’ll be sorely missed. But the final film will obviously be a great lasting tribute to her.”
Smith’s sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens confirmed news of her death on September 27.
“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they said in a statement to the BBC. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”
They added, “We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”
Smith won the best actress Oscar for 1969’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She also won best supporting actress for 1978’s California Suite.
To modern audiences, Smith is best remembered as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise and the Reverend Mother in the Sister Act movies.
Downton Abbey 3 will reunite the core stars from the franchise including Bonneville, Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), Elisabeth McGovern (Lady Cora), Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith), Jim Carter (Mr. Carson), Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates) and Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates). Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti is set to reprise his role as Cora’s brother, Harold Levinson. He first played the part in Downton Abbey season 4.
Bonneville previously hinted that the second movie would be the final chapter in the franchise.
“A third movie? I don’t know. I was thinking there was probably an energy for it, but I suspect things have moved on and that’s a good way to finish,” Bonneville told Business Insider in 2022.
“I think the second film was such a joyous one and such a good note on which to end the story,” he said in a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “And it does feel like it can end. There’s still open doors in it, but I think it might be the right time to stop.”
