Movies The Dowager Countess reveals her 'mysterious past' in first Downton Abbey: A New Era trailer Are the Crawleys headed to France in the upcoming movie? Watch the teaser trailer. By Jethro Nededog Jethro Nededog Jethro Nededog is the senior news editor at EW.Before that, he was the entertainment editor at Insider. He has also served as the TV Editor for TheWrap and Celebuzz, as well as reported on television for Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, and the Los Angeles Times.He is a former member of the Television Critics Association (TCA), currently a member of the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA), and served for several years as a judge for the Critics Award at the New York Television Festival.He has a BA in journalism from New York University, and an MA in fiction and screenwriting from the University of Southern California.Raised in San Diego, Jethro has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Madrid. He currently resides in New York City. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 15, 2021 09:57AM EST Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess drops a bomb in the first teaser trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era that arrived Monday. "Years ago, before you were born, I met a man," the dowager countess begins. "And now, I've come into the possession of a villa in the South of France." To which, Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) responds with dropped jaw, "What?" From left, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, and Hugh Bonneville in "Downton Abbey: A New Era.". Focus Features It isn't a lot to go on, but it's way more than we have known about the movie thus far. At the end of the trailer, the Dowager Countess cheekily dismisses herself in dramatic fashion: "And with that, I will say goodnight and leave you to discuss my mysterious past." In addition to Dockery and Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, and Jim Carter will all be back for A New Era, along with series newcomers Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, and Dominic West. In an interview with PEOPLE, Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes, said the upcoming sequel will pick up right where the 2019 movie left off. And as we have come to expect from Downton, that generally means change as the times evolve. "We're trying to mark the change," Fellowes said, "the fact that Crawleys of Downton are nearly in the 1930s, which is merely the beginning of the modern world." And if the Dowager Countess' surprise news and Mr. Carson's (Carter) quip ("They should be warned, the British is coming.") is to be taken as clues, the Crawleys are going to France. What other secrets will they uncover? What shenanigans will they get into? We'll find out when Downton Abbey: The New Era hits theaters on March 18, 2022. Watch the trailer above. Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Related content: Downton Abbey sequel enters New Era with official title, wedding hints Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville says there's a script for the film's sequel Downton Abbey returns! Get a first look at A New Era, an 'unashamedly feel-good movie'