Paddington 3 was previously confirmed and franchise star Ben Whishaw has now revealed when they’ll get in front of cameras for the highly anticipated feature. Speaking in an interview with BBC, Whishaw confirmed the film is happening and revealed that production should begin before the end of the year. This marks a bit of a delay in the last update we’d heard about the film when it was revealed they were aiming to start shooting in the first half of 2022. When he wasn’t confirming the production start for the movie, Whishaw noted how confusing his presence is to young fans who don’t realize that he voices the tiny bear in the feature films.
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“It’s very disappointing,” Whishaw said of children being confused when told he voices Paddington. “Occasionally a parent will point out me to a child and I can see the bafflement on their faces, because how can I possibly be Paddington? It doesn’t make any sense to them. And to try to explain that I’m the voice of Paddington is even more confusing for their minds. Bless them.”
When it was announced that Paddington 3 is officially in active development, production company Studiocanal released a short statement: “We can confirm Studiocanal is working very hard on film 3 with the utmost craft and care — as with film 1 and 2.” Specific details surrounding the project remain under wraps, although that surely won’t stop fans from getting hyped about the idea of seeing the lovable stuffed bear onscreen again. Paul King, Simon Farnaby, and Mark Burton — all of whom worked on the first two Paddington films — will be writing the story for Paddington 3. Burton will be writing the script with Jon Foster and James Lamont.
It seems unlikely that Paul King will return as director, with producer David Heyman outright revealing this himself last year.
“Paul is involved in it, I wanted him to be involved in it because I think he’s such a significant voice, but I don’t think he’ll direct it,” the producer said. “He worked on the idea… he comes up with the idea with Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton and then they develop it and come back for more, back and forth, and then it’ll get written and Paul will come in and stir it up a little bit. But he’s an incredible collaborator, Paul. Very positive, very supportive.”
No release date for Paddington 3 has been announced yet.
