It looks like everyone’s favorite marmalade-eating bear could be back for another adventure.
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Ben Winshaw, who has voiced Paddington the Bear in two live-action films, was recently asked if he would be interesting in returning for a third installment. And as he explained to Entertainment Weekly, it definitely could be in the cards.
“I absolutely love doing Paddington,” Winshaw revealed. “It takes a lot of time, and each time I’ve done it, it’s taken the better part of a year. But… I would love to do another one.”
But as Winshaw went on to say, whether or not he would return for a third Paddington film would depend on the availability of writer-director Paul King.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like without him, so I think it’s really down to whether he wants to or not,” Winshaw explained.
Paddington has become a bonafide sensation since the first film debuted in 2014, with the sequel being deemed the best-reviewed movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It’s incredibly gratifying,” King said of Paddington 2‘s positive reception. “It’s such a strange process making these films which are preposterously labor-intensive. Normally you feel a film is coming into shape fairly quickly, but when it’s semi-animated so much of it evolves over the following year and you spend so many dozens of hours in darkened rooms looking at incredibly small details. You get incredibly meticulous and controll-y over every last frame. But there’s a danger you entirely lose your mind — and there’s an extraordinary moment when your head comes above water and the first response is from critics. It’s a strange experience and you can’t help but hope for the best for this little character and the film you’ve created. It’s very lovely they were warm and enthusiastic.”
Of course, those qualifications would definitely make a sequel seem likely, but it’s unclear when that could happen. In the months since Paddington 2, King has signed on to direct live-action reboots of both Willy Wonka and Pinocchio, a pivot that Winshaw seems to understand.
“I think he probably needs a real break from Paddington right now because he’s spent the last five years doing it,” Whishaw added.
Would you want to see a third Paddington film hit the big screen? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
