A third Paddington movie is officially in the works

The story of Paddington Bear has been around since 1958 in the form of a book A Bear Called Paddington. Since then, the beloved bear has warmed the hearts of many with more books, television adaptations, and feature films.

The polite bear who gets into mischief as we follow his adventures was finally brought to the big screen with 2014’s Paddington and 2017’s Paddington 2, starring Ben Whishaw as the titular character.

Whishaw not only plays Paddington in the film version, but in the animated television series, The Adventures of Paddington, as well. The second season premieres in the U.S. on Nickelodeon on Friday, February 19th, and other territories in April.

It comes as no surprise, then, that there is going to be a third film in the series, especially after the first two did well in the global box office. Variety reported that the first feature earned a worldwide total of $280 million and the second $225 million worldwide.

What we know about a third Paddington movie

The movies are known for their heartwarming nature, beautiful ability to mix CGI animation with live-action, and witty humor, all backed by an incredible cast.

Paddington‘s production company, StudioCanal, confirmed the news of a third installment to Variety by releasing a statement saying, “We can confirm Studiocanal is working very hard on film 3 with the utmost craft and care — as with film 1 and 2.”

A few more details have already emerged about the status of the third movie. Hugh Bonneville, who plays Henry Brown, the father of the household that ultimately brings Paddington into the family, told Variety in a statement that the project has “forward momentum…somewhere on the horizon.”

In an era where Hollywood and the film industry look to the future after a tough year as a result of film delays and production shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the future is looking bright with new movie announcements, such as with the Paddington series.

As far as the story itself goes, not much is known as of yet. Confirmation of the script being written dates back to June 2020, when Paul King, the director of the first two movies, affirmed that there is definitely room for the franchise to continue.

While King will not return to direct the third film — turning attention to other projects, such as the Willy Wonka origins story slated for release in March 2023 — he will still serve as an executive producer.

He told Empire Magazine that while Paddington has been “one of the great treats of my life…at some point, you just have to stop. It might be time for somebody else to do a twist on it.”

The Paddington news was welcomed with positivity, including some hopeful for a possible new interaction between Paddington and actress Florence Pugh, as seen on Twitter last year.

There’s also speculation and dream-casting already on who the new villain will be. After Nicole Kidman’s villainous turn in the first Paddington film and Hugh Grant’s portrayal in Paddington 2, names have been thrown around by fans dreaming of the perfect villain casting, including Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh suggested by Collider and Buzzfeed sharing some more dream casting ideas from fans on Twitter including  Jeff Goldblum, Toni Collette, Olivia Coleman, and Daniel Radcliffe.

While there is no new official casting news, it will be fun to dream and imagine who could be the next actor to take on the cunning role of playing the villain in a Paddington film.

And it looks like Paddington himself is ready for a much brighter 2021, tweeting “I’m going to start planning some adventures, both big and small.”