Paddington 4 has found its writers as the marmalade-loving bear gets ready for his fourth big-screen outing. The new movie was finally confirmed last month, with Studiocanal boss Anna Marsh teasing that "world-renowned comedy writers" had been attached – and she wasn't exaggerating.
According to Variety, comedy legend Armando Iannucci will write Paddington 4 alongside his long-standing co-writer Simon Blackwell, who has worked on the likes of Veep and The Thick of It. As well as those shows, Iannucci was the co-creator of Alan Partridge and wrote for The Day Today, and was Oscar-nominated for In the Loop which he also directed.
Even if you've somehow never seen one of his shows, you can also currently watch Iannucci on the current series of Taskmaster.
Related: Paddington 4 has been officially confirmed with "world-renowned" writers
Variety has also reported that Dougal Wilson – who took over from Paul King to direct Paddington in Peru – is in talks to return to direct Paddington 4, while Rosie Alison is continuing to produce the series for Heyday Films.
It's unclear yet whether Paul King and Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote the second movie and the story for the third movie, will be involved in any capacity. King also wrote and directed the first movie, as well as directing the sequel.
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When a fourth movie was originally spoken about in September 2024, it was reported that Paddington 4 would arrive in time for the 70th anniversary of the character.
Paddington Bear made his debut in A Bear Called Paddington, which was released in October 1958. If the timeline is still accurate, then we could expect to see Paddington 4 in October 2028, but Studiocanal has yet to confirm a release date for the new movie.
Related: All you need to know about Paddington 4
We also don't yet know who will return from the cast, although we'd be amazed if Ben Whishaw didn't return to voice Paddington.
Hugh Bonneville appeared to rule out a return, but we're hoping he can be persuaded otherwise, and we hope to see Hugh Grant again after his surprise appearance in Paddington in Peru's credit scene.
If you can't wait to see Paddington again, then you can see him in the flesh in the West End's latest hit Paddington: The Musical. You can buy tickets right now from the likes of ATG Tickets, TodayTix and LoveTheatre.
Paddington 4 does not yet have a release date.
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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.
