Thus far, two-thirds of director Paul King’s cinematic endeavors have been bear-centric, as he’s helmed both of the Paddington movies. A third movie centered on the hat-wearing, marmalade-loving bear is currently in the works, but King has revealed that he won’t be directing this time around, though that doesn’t mean he’s separated himself from Paddington 3 entirely.
It was reported last winter that the likelihood of Paul King directing Paddington 3 was slim, and he’s now confirmed that is indeed a case. King will stick around as an executive producer, and he described directing the first two Paddington movies as one of the “greatest treats” of his life. However, he feels it’s time to focus on other projects and let someone else put their stamp on this property, saying:
At some point, you just have to stop. It might be time for somebody else to do a twist on it. I’m trying not to do a third bear movie, which is a huge, huge mistake.
In addition to directing 2014’s Paddington and 2017’s Paddington 2, Paul King also wrote the first movie and co-wrote the second movie with Simon Farnaby. So he’s clearly poured a lot of his time into adapting Paddington for the big screen, and he thinks now is the right opportunity to handle the directorial side of things for Paddington 3. Who will that person be? That’s unclear for now, but rest assured, we’ll let you know when a name is announced.
During his conversation with Empire, Paul King also noted that the script for Paddington 3 is being written, and it’s possible the film series could keep going after that. As King humorously put it:
It’s not like Paddington dies at the end. He doesn’t ascend into the sky on a rocket-powered marmalade jar.
Outside of the Paddington movies, Paul King directed and wrote the 2009 movie Bunny and the Bull, and has also helmed episodes of TV shows like The Mighty Boosh, Come Fly with Me and Netflix’s Space Force. As for what he has coming up besides executive producing Paddington 3, King and Simon Farnaby are collaborating on another project together, and back in 2018, it was announced that King was tapped to direct a Willy Wonka reboot.
While it remains to be seen what sort of shenanigans Paddington will get into during his next big screen adventure, one can presume that the bear will be accompanied by his family and perhaps even a few other supporting characters from the previous two movies. In addition to Ben Whishaw voicing the title bear (a duty he’s continued with in the animated series The Adventures of Paddington), the main cast from the first two Paddington movies included Jim Broadbent, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters and Peter Capaldi.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news concerning Paddington 3, and be sure to look through our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are set to arrive later in the year.
