Next Paddington movie to be written by The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci
Paddington gets political?
2024’s Paddington in Peru was widely regarded as a series weak point following two killer Paddington movies, but there’s good news for the upcoming Paddington 4: Armando Iannucci is one of the key writers on the project.
He will work with serial collaborator Simon Blackwell on the script — their shared writing credits include In the Loop, The Thick of it and Veep. And, a little closer to Paddington 4 in sensibility, 2019 film The Personal History of David Copperfield.
Variety also reports Paddington in Peru director Dougal Wilson is currently “in talks” to return as director. The first two Paddington movies were directed by Paul King, who is currently working on a Wonka sequel, among other projects.
It wasn’t just Paul King that left the team to it for Paddington in Peru. Mary Brown, played by Sally Hawkins in the first two films, was performed by Emily Mortimer in the most recent film. Hawkins instead followed Paddington 2 director King to work on Wonka, in which she played Willy’s mother.
Series star Hugh Bonneville suggested in an interview with Saga earlier this year that he too may not return for a fourth film.
When asked about a fourth go at Henry Brown, Bonneville said, “I don’t think so. I really don’t. I’ve loved it, but I’m getting on a bit,” before intimating he could easily be replaced by a younger actor. Bonneville is currently 62 — just a little younger than action star Tom Cruise, who is 63.
Paddington party plans
StudioCanal confirmed Paddington 4 was in development in April, teasing its writing team of “world-renowned comedy writers” during CinemaCon in Las Vegas — although we have been hearing rumblings of this project’s existence since 2024.
The Paddington movies do not have plots based on a single Paddington book, which were written by Michael Bond, but are instead based on the wider body of work and the kind of character Paddington is in general.
The last major project Iannucci and Simon Blackwell worked on was Avenue 5, a space tourism comedy that was cancelled at HBO after two seasons.
Paddington marks its 70th anniversary in 2028. Early reports on Paddington 4’s production suggested the plan was to have it in cinemas for that landmark anniversary.
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