Paddington and Paddington 2 are two of the most beloved movies of all time, so you wouldn't blame there being some nervousness about a third movie.
Now that the first trailer for Paddington in Peru is out, it looks like the franchise is in safe hands under new director Dougal Wilson. It marks his feature directorial debut, taking over from Paul King who remained on board as an executive producer and provided the story.
Unsurprisingly, Wilson knew that he had a high bar to live up to and that led to a mix of emotions when he was asked to direct Paddington 3.
"My first reaction was shock and excitement. I felt very flattered and I was very honoured, but that soon gave way to terror and pathological trepidation and that's where the fun ended, really," he joked at the trailer preview event today (June 12) attended by Digital Spy.
"Obviously, the first two films, they're a somewhat high bar to follow and I wasn't under any delusions about that. It felt like an opportunity I couldn't really turn down, but it was a strange mix.
"The first two films which Paul did so utterly brilliantly with Rosie [Alison, producer] are so cherished and beloved, we're carrying a huge burden of expectation. I do respect that and I really hope people think we've done a good job with the third one."
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Paddington 3 is again produced by David Heyman and Rosie Alison, with the latter revealing that they "went with great trepidation" about even doing a third Paddington movie after the reception to the first two.
"We thought hard about doing it and we were never going to do it unless we felt there was a real reason for it to be. We dug deep to try and find what we thought was the right story for the third film," she recalled.
"Last time we had the wonderful Paul King and that's a very high bar. But when we knew Paul was going to go off and do Wonka, our very first thought was Dougal. Dougal is already really a legend in his world of commercials, and he just has what we felt was the ideal qualities for a Paddington film.
"He has this abundant visual imagination and endless flair, but a very rigorous individual imagination as well. He also has wonderful comic timing and humour and wit, but he also has this wonderful big heart as well and this generosity and this emotion.
"I hope Dougal won't mind me saying, but he has a very strong inner child or perhaps I should stay a strong inner Paddington, which felt very important for a director of the film."
It's not only the director that has changed his time around as Emily Mortimer has taken over the role of Mrs Brown from Sally Hawkins, while newcomers to the series include Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas.
Paddington in Peru is released in UK cinemas on November 8 and in US cinemas on January 17, 2025.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
