The first two films, released in 2014 and 2017, were huge box office successes, grossing over $500 million worldwide. In France, this third part will be released on February 5, 2025.
Paddington returns to the big screen: seven years after the release of the second film featuring the adventures of the little Peruvian bear cub who took refuge in London, a new feature film sees him return to his roots for adventures in the heart of the Amazon forest.
The world premiere of Paddington in Perudirected by Dougal Wilson, was organized on Sunday November 3 in London, in the presence of its star actors Olivia Colman, Hugh Bonneville and Antonio Banderas, before a release on November 8 in the United Kingdom, then in February 2025 in France.
This time the iconic teddy bear in the blue duffle coat and red hat, icon of British children’s literature, returns on vacation to his native country to visit his aunt Lucy. Accompanied by his adoptive family, the Browns, he will find himself drawn into incredible adventures in search of the mythical lost city of gold of Eldorado.
Paddington « has a beautiful outlook on life, a beautiful optimism, a beautiful, tireless way of seeing the best in others »director Dougal Wilson, who took over from Paul King for this third part, told AFP. Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) plays Mr Brown again, while his wife is this time played by Emily Mortimer.
A dream casting
« It was really nice to come back and see our four-legged friend again. He lost none of his charm, bad luck or playfulness, and being reunited with the family was very special indeed. »rejoiced Hugh Bonneville on the red carpet before the premiere. Also starring is Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman in the role of a whimsical nun and Spaniard Antonio Banderas as an adventurous boat captain.
In French, the bear, a big fan of orange jam and extremely clumsy, is voiced by actor Guillaume Gallienne. Ben Whishaw (saga James Bond, Mary Poppins Returns) lends him his voice in the original version. The first two films, released in 2014 and 2017, were huge box office successes, grossing over $500 million worldwide. A success which made Dougal Wilson somewhat nervous. “I was very worried (…) so I really hope that people will like this one and think it’s a good third part”he declared.
A teddy imagined on Christmas Eve
Paddington was born in 1958 from the pen of the English writer Michael Bond, who died in 2017 at the age of 91. Children were able to follow the adventures of the bear cub in around fifteen books published until 2014, sold more than 35 million copies and translated into more than 40 languages.
In the 1970s, the BBC produced an animated series, before Paddington arrived at the cinema in 2014. Michael Bond had imagined it one Christmas evening in 1956, when after seeing a lonely teddy bear in the window of a London department store, he decided to give it to his wife and to name it after the station closest to their home.
