'Downton Abbey' Movie Latest News: Hugh Bonneville Explains Filming Delay
The 'Downton Abbey' movie will not be in theaters anytime soon. Hugh Bonneville, who played the Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley on the show, explained what's causing the filming delay during his visit to a morning show.
Speaking with the hosts of "Good Morning Britain," the actor revealed there are still no signs of the beginning of production. Work on the "Downton Abbey" movie was supposed to be calendared for September, but the cameras haven't rolled.
Scheduling conflicts among the show's stars became the main problem in putting the movie together. Most of the actors have moved on to different projects both in the U.K. and abroad.
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"We would love it to happen, where there's a will there's a way but there's no sign of it," Bonneville said. "It would be lovely, if we could all pull together and find ourselves in the same part of the globe at the same time then maybe."
"Downton Abbey" creator Julian Fellowes acknowledged that it's not easy for these stars to break away from their current projects for the reunion movie. Some of the cast have been working on bigger projects, which Fellowes said is also a good thing for the actors' credentials.
"My job is to write the script and whether or not we can get three months that correspond in everyone's career," Fellowes stated. "I hope it happens."
Michael Edelstein, the head of NBC Universal International Studios that owns the rights to "Downton Abbey" confirmed in June that the movie is happening. He expressed hope that the film will be out sometime in 2018.
"Downton Abbey" is about a fictional family of aristocrats and their servants. The show is set between 1912 and 1926. It's also about the norms of British social hierarchy.
Meanwhile, Bonneville had a mini-reunion with his "Downton Abbey" family recently. Michelle Dockery, who played his daughter Lady Mary, and Allen Leech, who played his son-in-law Tom Branson, both attended the premiere of "Paddington 2," Bonneville's latest movie.
