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.

Paddington
Created byMichael Bond
Original workPaddington Bear
Owned byThe Paddington Company
Films and television
Film(s)
Animated series
  • The Adventures of Paddington
    (2020—present)
Official website
https://www.paddington.com/gb/

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.[1] It was also announced that Paul King would direct and co-write with Simon Farnaby.[2] 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.[3] Framestore provided the visual effects for the film.[4] Filming in Little Venice took place for three days.[5] Filming also took place at Shepton Mallet Prison.[6][7]

Paddington 3 (TBA)

In June 2016, StudioCanal CEO Didier Lupfer stated that the studio was committed to making a third Paddington film.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10][11]

The title of the series will be called The Adventures of Paddington.[12]

On 20 November 2019, it was announced that the series will premiere on 20 January 2020 after a sneak preview which aired on 20 December 2019.[13]

Cast and characters

Characters Films Television series
Paddington Paddington 2 The Adventures of Paddington
2014 2017 2019—present
Paddington Brown Ben Whishaw
Henry Brown Hugh Bonneville Darren Boyd
Mary Brown Sally Hawkins Morwenna Banks
Jonathan Brown Samuel Joslin Bobby Beynon
Judy Brown Madeleine Harris Sabrina Newton-Fisher
Mrs. Bird Julie Walters Phyllis Logan
Samuel Gruber Jim Broadbent David Schofield
Mr. Curry Peter Capaldi Reece Shearsmith
Aunt Lucy Imelda Staunton  
Uncle Pastuzo Michael Gambon  
Millicent Clyde Nicole Kidman  
Montgomery Clyde Tim Downie  
Joe Matt Lucas  
Andre the Thief Matt King  
Phoenix Buchanan   Hugh Grant  
Knuckles McGinty   Brendan Gleeson  
  • 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.[14] 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.[15][16][17]

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.[18] 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)[19] 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.[20]

Crew

Film U.S. release date Director Producer Writer(s) Composer Editor(s) Cinematographer
Paddington 16 January 2015 Paul King David Heyman Story by: Paul King and Hamish McColl
Screenplay by: Paul King
Nick Urata Mark Everson Erik Wilson
Paddington 2 12 January 2018 Story and Screenplay by: Paul King and Simon Farnaby Dario Marianelli Mark Everson and Jonathan Amos
Paddington 3 15 January 2021 Screenplay by: Mark Burton
Simon Farnaby
Paul King


Reception

Box office performance

Film US release date Box office gross Budget
US and Canada Other territories Worldwide
Paddington[21] 16 January 2015 $76,271,832 $191,775,976 $268,047,808 $55 million
Paddington 2[22] 12 January 2018 $40,442,052 $186,426,520 $226,868,572 $42 million

Critical reception

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Paddington 97% (158 critics)[23] 77 (38 critics)[24] A[25]
Paddington 2 100% (238 critics)[26] 88 (38 critics)[27] A[25]

BAFTA Awards

Film Category Result
Paddington[28] Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay
Paddington 2[29] Best British Film
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Adapted Screenplay

References

  1. Radish, Christina (28 April 2015). "Paddington 2: Producer David Heyman Provides an Update on the Sequel". Collider. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  2. Hopewell, John & Keslassy, Elsa (10 May 2016). "Cannes: 'Paddington 2' Sets Production Date". Variety. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  3. Stolworthy, Jacob (18 October 2016). "Paddington 2 recruits Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson as filming begins". The Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  4. Kollewe, Julia (3 November 2016). "Harry Potter special effects firm looks east with sale to China group". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. "Paddington Bear film set staff 'acting like armed militia', say angry Little Venice residents". London Evening Standard. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  6. "Paddington 2: Film starring Hugh Grant shot scenes at Shepton Mallet prison and stars local girl". Somerset Live. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  7. Baillie, Katie (28 June 2017). "Hugh Bonneville learns of Paddington creator's death on last day of filming". Metro. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  8. Barnes, Henry (20 June 2016). "Back fur more: Paddington films set for third instalment". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  9. "Paddington 3 is almost definitely happening". Digital Spy. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  10. Hopewell, John (9 October 2017). "Mipcom: Studiocanal to Launch Paddington Animated TV Series". Variety. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  11. Press Release (14 February 2020). "STUDIOCANAL AND NICKELODEON ANNOUNCE GLOBAL DEAL FOR ALL-NEW "PADDINGTON" TELEVISION SERIES". Paddington.com.
  12. "Nickelodeon_Content_Sizzle_Ble_2019_(September_2019)". Vimeo. 22 October 2019.
  13. "Beloved Paddington Bear Returns to TV in Nickelodeon's Brand-New Animated Preschool Series, "The Adventures of Paddington," Premiering Monday, Jan. 20, at 12:30 P.M. (ET/PT) in the U.S." The Futon Critic. 20 November 2019.
  14. Dawtrey, Adam (13 September 2007). "WB bears down on 'Paddington' film". Variety. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  15. Decant, Charles (5 November 2012). ""Paddington" : Canal+ va produire le film le plus cher de son histoire". ozap.com (in French). Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  16. Kemp, Stuart (5 October 2012). "'Harry Potter' Producer David Heyman to Adapt 'Paddington Bear'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  17. Jaafar, Ali (28 November 2014). "'Paddington': Potential Game-Changer For Studiocanal; Euro Major Bares Ambition". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  18. Busis, Hillary (17 June 2014). "Colin Firth leaving as voice of 'Paddington' movie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  19. "Great campaign ads to feature in new Paddington film". VisitBritain (Press release). 13 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  20. Horwell, Veronica (28 June 2017). "Michael Bond obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  21. "Paddington". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  22. "Paddington 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  23. "Paddington". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  24. "Paddington". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  25. "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". www.cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  26. "Paddington 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  27. "Paddington 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  28. Levine, Nick (8 February 2015). "BAFTA Film Awards 2015: Full list of winners". NME. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  29. "The Shape of Water leads Bafta nominations". BBC News. 9 January 2018. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
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