Get your jam sandwiches ready, because the little Peruvian bear will be back again on the big screen later this year in Paddington 2. He’s had a little bit of time to get used to his new surroundings in London with the the Brown family, and its starting to feel at home, but things are about to get pretty hairy for the duffel coat-wearing émigré.
Paul King is back in the director’s chair once again in the latest family adventure, having done a pretty good job with Paddington back in 2014. There is no trailer as of yet, but we know that Ben Wishaw (Spectre) will be back to voice Paddington and that he’ll be joined this time around by Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson as the newest members of the cast.
Release date
Paddington 2 has been confirmed for a UK release date of 10th November 2017, only three years after the original film hit the big screen. There’s not much else slated for the same weekend at the box office in the UK, although DC comics’ Justice League will be out a week later.
There’s no word on the US release date as of yet, but it will be out in Australia and New Zealand on the 26th December 2017.
Story
Paddington is pretty happy with his new life with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens after a few teething issues to begin with, although, it doesn’t take long for trouble to find him. His carefree days of marmalade sandwiches and random friendly chats with his neighbours are punctured when a book he’s got his eye on in Mr Gruber’s antiques shop goes missing.
Paddington takes up the challenge of trying to find the thief behind the heist, taking him deep into the heart of the London crime scene. With only the Brown family for support, it’s not going to be any easy investigation for the little bear, and we’re expecting it to get pretty serious for him before the end of the film.
Paddington 2 movie poster:
Cast
The new additions to the cast will see Hugh Grant (The Man From U.N.C.L.E) playing local celebrity Phoenix Buchanan, although no with Brendan Gleeson (Assassin’s Creed) starring as an infamous safe-cracker called Knuckles McGinty.
Ben Wishaw is back as Paddington with Imelda Staunton (Arthur Christmas) as his aunt Lucy, Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as Mr and Mrs Brown, Julie Walters as Mrs Bird, Jim Broadbent (Bridget Jones’s Baby) as Samuel Gruber, and Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who Series 10) as Mr. Curry. Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin will also be reprising their roles as Judy and Jonathan Brown.
Production
Paul King returns as the director and one half of the writing team behind the movie with co-writer Simon Farnaby (Mindhorn) who he worked with for the first Paddington film. David Heyman is producing the film for STUDIOCANAL. The film obviously takes its nod from the work of British author Michael Bond, who created the books that brought us the character originally in the late 1950s. You can keep an eye on the latest from the little bear and his new movie on the official Twitter page.
First impressions
There’s no trailer as of yet for Paddington 2, so we’re still a little in the deepest, darkest about what to expect. However, if the first film is anything to go by, then it should be another great family film from Paul King. The same strong cast has been carried forward into the sequel with the addition of Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson, so it feels like there should be enough to make this a big release.
