Paddington (film series)

Paddington is a British-French media franchise based on the character Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond. The  franchise began with the 2014 film of the same name. A sequel was released in 2017 and a third film is in development. The films have also spawned a TV series. All films and TV series see Ben Whishaw play Paddington Bear.

Films

Paddington (2014)

This is the first and only film to be distributed by The Weinstein Company in the US, as the rights to the film series were sold to Warner Bros. Pictures following the Weinstein scandal in October 2017. A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven.

Paddington 2 (2017)

In April 2015, David Heyman confirmed that he would produce the second film in the franchise. It was also announced that Paul King would direct and co-write with Simon Farnaby. By October 2016, the cast of Paddington – Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton – were confirmed to be returning for the sequel, joined by new cast members Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson. Principal photography began in the same month. Framestore provided the visual effects for the film. Filming in Little Venice took place for three days. Filming also took place at Shepton Mallet Prison.

Paddington 3 (2020)

In June 2016, StudioCanal CEO Didier Lupfer stated that the studio was committed to making a third Paddington film. In November 2017, David Heyman told Digital Spy that though the script for a third Paddington film had not developed, discussions about locations, ideas and scenes had already begun.  In November 2018, Heyman noted that a third film was likely to happen, but that Paul King would not be back to direct, though he would still be involved in a prominent creative capacity.

Television series

In October 2017, it was announced that StudioCanal was producing an animated series based on the films, set to launch in either late 2018 or early 2019. It was announced in February 2019, that the series will launch worldwide in 2020 on Nickelodeon, with Whishaw reprising his voice of Paddington.

The title of the series will be called The Adventures of Paddington.

On November 20, 2019, it was announced that the series will premiere on January 20, 2020 after a sneak preview which aired on December 20, 2019.

Cast and characters

 Note: A dark grey cell indicates that the character doesn't appear in the film.

Production
The first film of the series was announced in September 2007, with David Heyman producing and Hamish McColl writing the screenplay. When filming began, Heyman announced the casting of Colin Firth as the voice of Paddington. Paddington is the most expensive film produced by the French production company StudioCanal.

In June 2014, after principal photography had wrapped, Firth voluntarily dropped out of the film, after the studio decided his voice was not suitable for Paddington. The role was recast the following month, with Ben Whishaw signing on to voice the title role. Paddington was created using a combination of computer-generated imagery (by the British company Framestore) and animatronics.

The creator of the Paddington character, Michael Bond, also appeared in a cameo in the first film, playing the role of the Kindly Gentleman.

Crew

Reception

Box office performance

Critical reception

BAFTA Awards

References

Category:British films
Category:British children's comedy films
Category:British comedy films
Category:British children's fantasy films
Category:French films
Category:French children's films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films about bears
Category:Films based on British novels
Category:Films based on children's books
Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
Category:Films produced by David Heyman
Category:Films set in London
Category:Motion capture in film
Category:StudioCanal films