A Great Director Is Teased As Exciting Update On Paddington 3

Two of the most joyous movies in recent history have been Paddington and Paddington 2, but that was five years ago, and it felt like we were never going to get a lid to this wonderful jar of marmalade.

Paul King stepped aside from the directing chair to focus on the Willy Wonka prequel for Warner Bros, but last year we got confirmation Paddington 3 was indeed happening with all eyes set on a 2022 production date.

It all went quiet again, but we now have a wonderful update (via Digital Spy) as King and his co-writer Simon Farnaby will be involved in the project in some capacity, with Farnaby teasing they’ll be “loitering around in the alleyways at the edges of that production.”

During a talk with Yahoo, Farnaby revealed that “Paul and I did tentatively write a story for Paddington 3, so we are involved.” He adds that King will be involved in an executive role, and the pair felt this was the right time to hand the movie onto someone else.

As he teases the project has already found its writers and director saying, “They’ve got great writers and I think they’ve got a great director, so I think it will be brilliant, but we’re slightly to one side for now.”

James Bond star Ben Whishaw is expected to return to voice Paddington with Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) are also expected to reprise their roles.

I’m looking forward to seeing who signed on to pen the script and helm the film as King and Farnaby have done such a terrific job with the previous two movies.

The other question will be about the villain because having seen how much fun Nichole Kidman and Hugh Grant brought to the films will likely have names queue around the corner.

I’d love to see one of or maybe a duo of Florence Pugh, Emma Thompson or Colin Firth. In the case of Firth, it’d be full circle as he was originally cast as the voice of our favourite Peruvian bear before having to leave and replaced by Whishaw.

As for another new character, I’d love to see West Side Story breakout star Rachel Ziegler join because she seems just utterly delightful and would fit in this world as she’s going to be Snow White, so what the perfect move across from Disney princess to Paddington’s friend.