The darling, duffle-coated bear created by Michael Bond is returning to the big screen for more live-action/animation hybrid adventures with the Brown family! The third movie has been announced as Paddington in Peru, and will see director Paul King pass the baton to award-winning commercials/music video director Dougal Wilson for his theatrical feature debut.
“After 10 years of working on the Paddington movies, I feel absurdly protective of the little bear, and I’m delighted that Dougal will be there to hold his paw as he embarks on his third big-screen adventure. Dougal’s work is never less than astounding: funny, beautiful, heartfelt, imaginative and totally original,” said King, who still serves as executive producer and story writer for the threequel.
King wrote the story for Paddington in Peru with prior film collaborators Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton; the script is written by Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont. Principal photography on the StudioCanal and Heyday Films production (fully financed by StudioCanal) is set to kick off in 2023 in both London and Peru.
Further details are not yet available, but fans will get to see the little bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw in the first two movies) return to “darkest Peru” from whence he traveled to Paddington station to begin his new life in London.
The two Paddington films released in 2014 and 2017 were big hits for SudioCanal, totting up more than $500 million at the worldwide box office and rave reviews (Paddington 2 became the highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes with 245 positive reviews) as well as several BAFTA nominations. The franchise’s cor cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent and Peter Capaldi.
[Source: Hollywood Reporter]
