After it was confirmed that the sixth season of ‘Downton Abbey’ will be its last one, series creator Julian Fellowes and executive producer Gareth Neame brought on more speculations by stating that the characters in the hit series could make special appearances in a future film.
Now, Neame has opened up once again about the possibilities of a spinoff film for the drama period show and stated that the project is currently being discussed.
“I’ve read a lot of speculation about sequels and spinoffs, and they’re all just rumors," Neame said. “What’s true is that there has been discussion of the movie.”
According to the TV producer, he prefers to push through with the film, although he cautions that: “There are no firm plans yet. So who knows?”
The cast and crew of ‘Downton Abbey’ are being kept busy with the news that the British drama series recently bagged an Emmy nomination for best drama just as filming for its sixth and final season is being wrapped up.
“I think we could have legitimately kept it going a bit longer,” Neame shared when asked whether they have thought about extending the series into a couple more seasons. “But you do want to leave people wanting more, not less.”
Fellowes, who is currently working on the upcoming NBC series ‘The Gilded Age,’ said that he would be “up for (a movie), but not anxious to do it,” explaining that many post-series films have turned out to be disappointments.
“Normally they’re not very good,” Fellowes said, “because the film producer says, ‘Oh, it’s not going to be anything like the series,’ and of course what you want is for it to be exactly like the series. I hope we would avoid that error in doing one.”
Earlier this year, both Neame and Fellowes expressed their preference for a big-screen version of ‘Downton Abbey.’
“It would be a wonderful extension,” Neame said in an interview with Deadline. “Julian and I would be very interested if we could get our ducks in a row.”
Both of them said that they had thought about a ‘Downton Abbey’ film, although no other details were revealed.
If the movie project pushes through, its story may not take place following the events seen on the TV series, thereby possibly passing off as a stand-alone movie.
“I think a movie could be completely stand-alone,” Neame said in an interview with TV Insider. “It doesn't need to directly pick up from the TV show. It could come before it or midway through it. It's a very different story than the series.”
