David Heyman: Paddington Bear is a story about an outsider finding a home Recent Hollywood adaptations of much-loved cartoons have met with mixed reviews, from the Scooby-Doo films to The Smurfs, which featured CGI renderings of the famous characters. But Heyman said Paddington Bear would be a world away from those efforts. "Look at the CGI characters in Harry Potter or Planet of the Apes - the verisimilitude is astonishing and that's what we're going for," he said. The film, scheduled for released in 2014, will be written and directed by Paul King. His credits include surreal TV series The Mighty Boosh and Heyman said: "Paul King has written the screenplay and it's wonderful. He is a hugely talented, visual director and I think it's really exciting that he's doing this. The Mighty Boosh was great, of course, but he also made a film a couple of years ago called Bunny and the Bull, which was brilliant, and he has done great work in theatre. Heyman bought the film rights to Paddington in 2007 and has spent years working on the project in consultation with Michael Bond, the 86-year-old creator of the Paddington Bear stories. Fans of the 1970s series will remember Michael Hordern's distinctive voice-over, which gave it a very British feel. Heyman said the British element would not be lost, but the film will be aimed at an international audience and will have universal themes. "It will be a celebration of Britishness, but so too was Harry Potter," he said. This is a story about finding a home, about being an outsider, about finding a place and being true to yourself. It's a story that will appeal in all sorts of ways.