"Downton Abbey" recently teased a very special announcement in a cryptic social media post. While it could plausibly mean a number of things, like a spin-off or an official book perhaps, fans are already convinced that it would be about the movie adaptation's release.
The official Facebook page of the ITV drama posted a photo of the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) teasing: "Something big is happening at Downton!"
The posts on Facebook and Instagram did not provide a specific date for the big news; they only told fans to "check back soon." But a now-deleted tweet from the show's official Twitter page, shown below, suggested that the announcement was supposed to be made the very next day.
According to IB Times, the tweet was published Monday at 1 p.m. UK time (8 p.m. US time) and removed nearly an hour later. Much to the everyone's dismay, nothing else has been announced as of this writing.
Talks of a potential "Downton Abbey" film have been floating around since the TV drama wrapped up in 2015. Most people involved were on board with the idea of bringing the show to the big screen, with series writer Julian Fellowes even revealing that he had already penned a script and it was good to go.
In June, NBCUniversal International Studios president Michael Edelstein told Telegraph that pre-production was indeed already underway. However, they were still trying to figure out how to round up the large cast "because as you know, people go on and do other things." Still, they aimed to make a movie adaptation sometime next year.
Some of the cast are already excited for the film. Sophie McShera, for one, said she would love to reprise her role as assistant cook Daisy Mason should the film happen. Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley in the series) on the other hand, shared the same sentiment, although they were still waiting for the green light.
"Downton Abbey" ran for six seasons on ITV. The historical show received praises from television critics and won numerous awards. It was also named by Guinness World Records as the most critically-acclaimed series of 2011.
