Third ‘Downton Abbey’ film to include “genuine, meaningful” tribute to Maggie Smith

nme.com:

Downton Abbey film will reportedly include a tribute to late acting legend Maggie Smith and her character, per a producer on the project.Dame Maggie Smith died in September this year at the age of 89.

Throughout her esteemed career, Smith was celebrated for many roles, one of which was that of Dowager Violet Crawley in the Downton Abbey franchise.

The franchise first began as an acclaimed TV series, before turning into a film series.So far, two films have been made in the franchise; Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).

Smith’s character Dowager Violet Crawley dies at the end of the second film. A third film is in the works and is due to premiere in September next year.Per executive producer Gareth Neame in a conversation with TVLine, the upcoming third film in the trilogy will include a tribute to the character and Smith herself.Neame said: “The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway.