At the CinemaCon event, StudioCanal announced the upcoming production of the Paddington movies. The movie studio officially confirmed that the fourth entry into the series would be coming, while an animated installment would also take place soon. This is a massive step in the direction toward building the franchise since the recent Paddington in Peru movie proved to be very successful.
StudioCanal discusses their plans for Paddington 4 and animated movie
First of all, StudioCanal confirmed the start of production on Paddington 4. In her speech at the CinemaCon event, the CEO of the studio, Anna Marsh, confirmed that they had already put a comedy team in charge of writing and producing the film.
Details about the plot still have not been disclosed, but it might return to London, the home of the bear, after the events described in the latest installment. The production should begin no later than late 2026, and the release might take place within the timeframe from 2027 to 2028.
Additionally, StudioCanal revealed its plans to produce a separate animated Paddington movie. This production will be significantly different from the others since it will not be live-action and will explore other themes and tones.
It is worth mentioning that both of these movies are part of a strategy designed by the studio to create a long-lasting franchise. The current idea is not to produce movies with a significant gap in their release time, but to develop several films simultaneously.
Apart from that, StudioCanal confirmed that there was an animated series about Paddington in pre-production that is scheduled for release in 2027. Moreover, the franchise expanded beyond films and series, and even stage productions can be found in the UK.
This is a significant shift for the studio, as it moves from its traditional practice of having intervals between the releases of movies and decides to engage the character continuously.
Ben Whishaw, who voiced Paddington in all the movies, may continue voicing him in the future installments of the franchise.
