Paddington 3 Gets Disheartening Update From Ben Whishaw

Paddington 3 receives a very disappointing update from voice actor Ben Whishaw after multiple indications it would begin filming by the end of 2022.

Paddington 3 receives a very disappointing update from Ben Whishaw, who voices the marmalade-loving bear. Based on beloved children’s stories by Michael Bond, the first two live-action/animated Paddington movies are widely considered perfect feel-good films for the entire family, especially the 2017 sequel which achieved a rare 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Paddington 3 is now officially in development, and there were multiple indications that the highly-anticipated threequel would begin filming by the end of 2022.

Now, Whishaw has a very disheartening update on the status of Paddington 3.

During a recent interview with Collider promoting his Sundance film Bad Behaviour, the Paddington voice actor reveals he has yet to see a script for the threequel, nor is he aware of any definite timeline to begin production. Read what Whishaw shares below:

I haven’t read this script and I don’t even know when we’re due to shoot it. I don’t know. I thought it would be happening by now, but I don’t know. It’s gone silent in the way that sometimes these things do. Maybe that just means they’re still working on it, or maybe it means it’s not happening, or you just don’t know.

Related: Casting Paddington 3’s Main Villain

Everything We Know About Paddington 3

After an initial announcement that Paddington 3 was officially in development at StudioCanal in 2021, there was a subsequent update from the studio that the threequel would start filming during the first half of 2022. After that did not come to fruition, Whishaw said that ​​​​​Paddington 3 would begin filming before the end of 2022. Now, that clearly has not happened either as Whishaw has yet to see a script, nor is there even an official timeline to start filming, despite past promises.

It’s unclear what has caused Paddington 3 to miss its planned production start window twice, though there are clearly some issues going on behind the scenes delaying the threequel, but hopefully it avoids entering the dreaded development hell. After the first two films were written and directed by Paul King, Dougal Wilson has signed on to Paddington 3 in his directorial debut with a screenplay written by several collaborators. Paddington 3 has even received an official title revealing that the titular bear will return to his come country – Paddington in Peru.

There is no confirmed Paddington 3 cast, though Whishaw is expected to return as the voice of the eponymous anthropomorphic bear alongside Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, and Samuel Joslin as the Brown family. The latest reports suggest that Paddington 3 is planning to start production across London and Peru in 2023, and with a lot of year left to go, it should be able to meet that expectation comfortably. As Mrs. Brown says, good things come to those who wait, as is the case considering the current status of Paddington 3.

More: Everything We Know About Paddington 3

Source: Collider