Three cheers for the Crawley family. “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the third and final cinematic chapter about the fictional aristocratic clan, has crossed the $100 million milestone at the global box office.
The film, backed by Focus Features and designed to bid farewell to the franchise that began with the beloved British television show, has grossed $104 million to date — including $45 million domestically and $55 million internationally. A slow and steady box office win for “The Grand Finale,” which opened in September, signals that long-time fans of the property haven’t tired of the onscreen palace intrigue and class-system drama. It’s also significant because, post-COVID, many films aimed at older crowds have struggled to sell tickets at all.
Revenues for the third film managed to improve upon the prior entry in the series about the grand houses and the servants and elite who populate them. The second film, 2022’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” debuted after COVID upended the theatrical landscape (and kept many older moviegoers at home) and amassed a still-impressive $92.6 million worldwide. Neither were able to top the first “Downton Abbey” movie, which was a huge hit with $194 million globally in 2019.
“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” opened in North America on Sept. 12 with $18 million in its opening weekend, below the original’s $31 million start but above the sequel’s $16 million bow. Internationally, the United Kingdom is unsurprisingly the top-earning market with $24 million, followed by Germany with $4.7 million and France with $4.5 million.
Simon Curtis directed “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” after helming “A New Era.” Series creator Julian Fellowes wrote the script, with Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth McGovern and Penelope Wilton among the original cast members who appear in the third installment.
In Variety’s review, film critic Tomris Laffly praised Fellowes for “gracefully transformed the series into an equally alluring three-film trilogy.” She wrote, “With a profound embrace of the changing times and clever winks at Downton devotees, Fellowes and director Simon Curtis deliver a heart-swelling conclusion.”
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