How Focus Features’ ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ Ushers In Specialty Label’s First Franchise – CinemaCon

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: When Downton Abbey first burst on the scene in 2010, the Julian Fellowes-created series quickly drew audiences and made headlines for its unique spin on the traditional British period drama.

This was not your grandmother’s upstairs/downstairs look at the upper crust, rather its take on the aristocracy gave contemporary audiences characters and storylines they could relate to with strong women, quotable dialogue and tons of heart.Now, 12 years later comes Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: A New Era, the feature sequel to the 2019 hit film that notched $238M worldwide and became the studio’s highest-grossing title ever domestically.

But A New Era isn’t just a sequel, it also establishes Focus’ first bonafide franchise — a rare beast in the specialty arena.

It’s also a sign of the way the company, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is thinking about its future.Directed by Simon Curtis and featuring the original cast, A New Era starts offshore rollout this week, including in the UK on Friday, and lands in North America on May 20, taking audiences on a trip to the South of France while also saving plenty of intrigue for the folks on the Grantham estate.Deadline recently spoke with Focus Chairman Peter Kujawski and Vice Chairman Jason Cassidy, as well as Downton producer Gareth Neame who is Executive Chairman of NBCUniversal International-owned Carnival Films, and has been there since the series’ inception.