This archive report was first published on 23 September 2019.
Published on September 23, 2019, the box office results for this weekend are clear: do not cross a dame.
‘Downton Abbey’, a film reviving the bejeweled cast of the hit TV show, opened to around $31 million in domestic ticket sales, surpassing expectations and beating out the Brad Pitt vehicle ‘Ad Astra’ and ‘Rambo: Last Blood’ for top place.
The film, a sequel to the hit TV show that ran for six seasons, brings back the aristocratic Crawley family and once again intersperses their dramas with those of the house staff. The plot picks up in 1927, shortly after the TV show’s finale, with the upstairs-downstairs cast of characters readying for a visit from the king and queen.
Reviews of the ‘Downton Abbey’ movie were generally strong, with an 85 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Marketing flourishes like a behind-the-scenes TV special and a listing on Airbnb for Highclere Castle, the country home where much of the series was shot, likely helped stoke fans’ excitement.
The movie’s biggest competitors were two fellow newcomers: 20th Century Fox’s ‘Ad Astra’, which opened to around $19.2 million in domestic sales; and ‘Rambo: Last Blood’, which is distributed by Lionsgate and opened to around $19 million.
