Family films that actually appeal to the whole family, adults included, are difficult to pull off and thus rare to find. The first Paddington film, based on the beloved series of books from author Michael Bond, struck this elusive balance. The film found success at the box office and in the minds of critics and now it has a sequel. In advance of next month's North American release, Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new trailer for Paddington 2. The trailer features more Paddington charm, a villainous Hugh Grant and a robbery, check it out below.
This trailer has all the humor and charm audiences have come to expect from Paddington while still having a fun new story to tell. Seeing the baby Paddington in Peru at the beginning of the trailer was cool and showed us a bit of the marmalade-loving bear's origins. We also get to see the crime that serves as the central conflict of the film. Paddington wants to purchase a pop-up book of London for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the book to be stolen and it looks like the adventure-prone bear will be blamed for it. Apparently this pop-up book gives the crown jewels a run for their money and Paddington is imprisoned for the crime in what appears to a symmetry-filled and pastel-colored prison straight out of a Wes Anderson film. The prison escape elements look like a ton of fun and the newcomers to the cast look to be having the same amount of fun.
In addition to the returning cast, we see Brendan Gleeson's Knuckles McGinty as a marvelously named fellow inmate at the prison. Paddington, as always, sees the best in people, including his fellow inmates, and inevitably wins the hardened prisoners to his side. Although Hugh Grant's character may have no good for Paddington to see. Hugh Grant plays Phoenix Buchanan in the film and he's the most mustache-twirling villain sans mustache I've seen in some time. All in all this just really looks like a fun, heartwarming movie that you can enjoy with the whole family, that has something for everyone. (And doesn't insult anyone's intelligence.)
While domestic audiences have to wait until next month, the bear in the coat and hat has already been entertaining families overseas for a while now. The film has already racked up $95 million worldwide, and has been especially successful in the United Kingdom where the character was first introduced in 1958. The first film went on to gross $268 million worldwide and this sequel has already garnered fantastic, universal praise from critics. Warner Bros. acquired domestic distribution rights to Paddington 2 from The Weinstein Company after the Harvey Weinstein allegations came to light. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Warner Bros. looks to have a promising family film in theaters to kick off the new year.
Paddington 2 hits North American theaters on January 12, 2018. For all of the most charming, superheroic, explosion-filled and scoundrel-y films releasing in the coming year, check out our release schedule.
