Downton Abbey creator weighs in on possible movie sequel

After six series of scandal, romance and heartbreak, Downton Abbey has finally reached the big screen with its very own movie (and you can see what we thought of it here).

The film reunites the aristocratic Crawley family and their downstairs staff as they prepare to host a visit from the Royal Family, giving audiences a glimpse into the changes in the characters' lives since the series left our screens in 2015.

But could there be another Downton movie on the horizon? The show's creator, Julian Fellowes, is the person who has all the answers – and the good news for fans is that it sounds like he hasn't ruled it out.

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"To be perfectly honest, having thought the final episode of the sixth series was the end of the whole thing, which I completely did, I then thought the movie was definitely the end of the whole thing," he told ET Online.

Now that the film has been released and proven popular with fans, however, the writer appears to be reconsidering the end of the franchise.

"I thought we were saying goodbye to Downton, and that was that," he added. "Now we all have to put our thinking caps on again."

Fellowes has previously shared that they have "very loose ideas" for a sequel at the moment, but the only way it's likely to happen is if the current film is a box office success.

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"Certainly it wouldn't happen if there wasn't a success at the box office," director Michael Engler told ET Online, while producer Gareth Neame added: "The fans have to get out and see it in the theatres.

"If people come out in big numbers and come see us in theatres then there's no reason we couldn't do another."

Fellowes has also shared that potential for a sequel is entirely dependent on fan reaction to the current movie, saying: "It all depends on how the picture is received. If the audience like it enough, then there may be another one. If they don't, then there won't be."

The fate of Downton may well be in all of our hands...

Downton Abbey is out now.

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