Downton Abbey: A New Era handed a new release date

'Downton Abbey: A New Era' has been given a new UK release date of April 29.

Focus Features has confirmed that the much-anticipated movie has been pushed back, from its original release date of March 18. It's also been revealed that the film's US release date has been moved to May 20.

The upcoming sequel will see the cast - which includes the likes of Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton and Michelle Dockery - travel to the south of France to uncover a mystery at a villa.

'Downton' creator Julian Fellowes previously teased some details about the movie, which is based on the acclaimed TV series.

Speaking about the project, Julian shared: "It's really a new era. The further the '20s went along, the more the world was changing in so many ways. Everything from entertainment to transport was really different by the end of the '20s. That's what we're referring to in that."

Julian sees the 'Downton' films as an "extension" of the hit TV series, which ran for six seasons between 2010 and 2015.

And he explained that the new movie will pick up from where the 2019 film ended.

He said: "As we know from the last film, Mary may not be the titular head of the household, but she is effectively running the show. We take that further.

"We're trying to mark the change - the fact that Crawleys of Downton are nearly in the 1930s, which is merely the beginning of the modern world."