Paddington 3 will happen, but without director Paul King at the helm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

I never expected to enjoy PADDINGTON and PADDINGTON 2 as much as I did, but I unabashedly love those films; just two incredibly wonderful movies full of marmaladey goodness. "If we're kind and polite, the world will be right." Words to live by. Given how enormously successful the first two films were, both critically and commercially, a third film is all but guaranteed, but it will be tough to live up to the top-tier quality of the first two PADDINGTON movies.

Unfortunately, when PADDINGTON 3 does move ahead, it will have to do so without director Paul King, who explained to Empire Magazine that he'll be passing the baton to someone else for the third film. Although King says that the PADDINGTON movies have been "one of the great treats of my life," he says that "At some point, you just have to stop. It might be a time for somebody else to do a twist on it. I'm trying not to do a third bear movie, which is a huge, huge mistake." While Paul King may not be directing Paddington's (Ben Whishaw) next adventure, he will remain onboard on executive producer, adding that he's working on "far too much" other material to concentrate entirely on PADDINGTON 3. King also confirmed that a script is being written for the third PADDINGTON film and that the franchise has the potential to continue onwards for as long as it wants.

It’s not like Paddington dies at the end. He doesn’t ascend into the sky on a rocket-powered marmalade jar.

Paul King is currently working on a collaboration with Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote PADDINGTON 2, as well as a feature-film revolving around Willy Wonka, which is rumoured to be an origin story of the eccentric confectionery inventor. "It’s challenging because you don’t have Dahl, you don’t have a Dahl book, and yet you have a Dahl character," Producer David Heyman said in 2018. "But I think there’s a lot in his character that suggests who he is and also where he might come from or what his childhood or his middle age might have been like. So we’re exploring that. We’re discussing it. We’re in the very early stages and very excited about what lies ahead."