'Downton Abbey': The Movie Starts Filming This September

​This is not a drill: The Downton Abbey movie is happening.

As Dowager Countess Violet once said, "At my age, one must ration one’s excitement." Unfortunately, she may be the only one doing so. Downton Abbey fans across the globe are rejoicing. The long-awaited and hoped-for movie follow-up to the megapopular television series is officially a go.

According to Variety, which broke the news:

The long-awaited “Downton Abbey” movie is happening. The original main cast from the hit series are returning, and shooting starts in September.

That's a fast turn around, and speaks to how much behind the scenes work has been going on in order to make this happen. Other films will announce themselves months, if not years ahead of filming. A good comparison would be Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears, which announced back in May that filming would begin in October.

But the reason Downton has been cagey about this announcement, holding it until the last minute, has been the cast. When I asked about plans for the film back in November at the Downton Abbey Exhibition opening, Carnival’s executive chairman Gareth Neame compared getting the ensemble on the same page and schedule to herding cats. But from all accounts, everyone will be back for this film, including Michelle Dockery, Sir Hugh Bonneville, and Dame Maggie Smith.