Downton's Dan Stevens to star in Night at the Museum 3

Dan Stevens is to star in the third Night At The Museum film.

The former Downton Abbey actor - who starred as Matthew Crawley in the ITV period drama before being killed off in last year's Christmas special - has been cast as Lancelot in the movie, reported Variety.

Dan joins Robin Williams and Ben Stiller in the film.

The Hollywood stars are reprising the roles of Teddy Roosevelt and security guard Larry Daley, the parts they played in the first two films in 2006 and 2009.

The third instalment will be set in London although plot details have not been revealed.

Shawn Levy is returning to direct Night At The Museum 3.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.