Paddington 3: Latest Update Isn't Good News for Sequel
Previous updates on the upcoming Paddington 3 have skewed positive, making it seem like the highly-anticipated sequel was moving full speed ahead toward getting made and released. Fans of the two live-action movies, which have become critical darlings in recent years (and spawned some controversy on Rotten Tomatoes), have been eagerly awaiting the next chapter; but the latest update from star Ben Wishaw makes it seem like the new movie may have fallen off the tracks. Speaking with Collider about his upcoming movie Bad Behaviour, the former James Bond star was asked about Paddington 3, and his reply doesn't inspire confidence.
"I haven't read this script and I don't even know when we're due to shoot it," Whishaw, who voices Paddington in the film series, said. "I don't know. I thought it would be happening by now, but I don't know. It's gone silent in the way that sometimes these things do. Maybe that just means they're still working on it, or maybe it means it's not happening, or you just don't know."
A previous interview with Whishaw indicated that production on the movie would begin in 2022, and as we know, that didn't happen. At one point the movie was aiming to start in the first half of that year and then again at the end of the year, now, there's no news at all. Even production company Studiocanal has been largely silent about the progress on the movie. The last official update on the film was confirmation it would be titled Paddington in Peru and would be directed by Dougal Wilson.
"We can confirm Studiocanal is working very hard on film 3 with the utmost craft and care — as with film 1 and 2," a short statement from the production company read when confirming Paddington 3 was officially in active development. Paul King, Simon Farnaby, and Mark Burton — all of whom worked on the first two Paddington films — were announced to be writing the story for Paddington 3. Burton will be writing the script with Jon Foster and James Lamont.
Though Paddington 3 hasn't happened, Whishaw did reprise his role once again in an unexpected way. Last summer during Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of her ascent to the throne, an original short filmf eaturing Elizabeth and Paddington Bear premiered on the BBC. The BBC, Heyday Films, and Buckingham Palace all collaborated on it which showed Paddington and the Queen meeting for tea and discussing their mutual love for marmalade sandwiches, with Elizabeth II joking that she keeps hers in her handbag.