Paddington 3 Adds Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Emily Mortimer & Rachel Zegler

Paddington 3 Adds Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Emily Mortimer & Rachel Zegler

Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, Emily Mortimer and Rachel Zegler are in talks to join the cast of Paddington in Peru – the third instalment in the live-action franchise focused on the infamous bear.

Set to start filming this July, the third instalment film will also star Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin. Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton will also be back as the voices of Paddington and Aunt Lucy, respectively.

The story will follow Paddington returning to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. Paddington and the Brown Family will embark on an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru. Filming will take place in the UK, Peru and Colombia.

However, for this third film there has been a significant recasting. Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns) will be taking over from Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown. Hawkins, who starred in the first two films said, “For me, it has felt the right time to hand the reins over to another, and one can’t get much better than the truly wonderful Emily Mortimer, she is extraordinarily special. She will embody the essence of Mary Brown and yet make it utterly her own.  However, I am, and will always be in love with Paddington’s world. I already greatly miss my on and off-screen family — the experience of making the first two films has truly been some of the best and most creative times I have had in the world of film. They both gave me so much joy. I will forever hold them so very close to my heart indeed.”

Colman will play the reverend mother, a blithe and sunny guitar-playing nun who runs the home for retired bears. Banderas will play Hunter Cabot, a dashing riverboat captain who offers to help the Brown family on their Peruvian adventure. Zegler, best known for playing Maria in Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” will play Cabot’s daughter, Gina.

The movie will mark the feature film directorial debut of Dougal Wilson and re-teams Studiocanal with Heyday Films, following their collaboration on the first two Paddington features. Studiocanal is fully financing the film and will distribute it in the UK. Sony Pictures will distribute in the U.S., Canada and other key international territories including Latin America.

The franchise’s popularity was displayed during Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in June 2022, when Paddington was seen having tea with the late Queen as part of a sketch. With budgets believed to be in the $50 million range, the last two Paddington movies have been hugely profitable. Paddington 2 grossed $227.9 million worldwide in 2018, while Paddington grossed $282.3 million in 2015.

Wilson previously directed commercials for brands including Apple, Ikea, BBC, and John Lewis. He was also nominated by the DGA for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials in 2020.

Paddington in Peru has a story by Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton, and a screenplay by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont. The film has not been given a release date, but it is possible we could expect to see this in late 2024.