HUGH BONNEVILLE RETURNS IN PADDINGTON IN PERU

RETURNING CAST HUGH BONNEVILLE, JULIE WALTERS, BEN WHISHAW, JIM BROADBENT, IMELDA STAUNTON, MADELEINE HARRIS AND SAMUEL JOSLIN TO BE JOINED BY OLIVIA COLMAN, ANTONIO BANDERAS, RACHEL ZEGLER AND EMILY MORTIMER

 

Academy Award winner Olivia Colman, Academy Award nominee Antonio Banderas, Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler and BAFTA nominee Emily Mortimer are all in talks to join Emmy and BAFTA nominated Hugh Bonneville, BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Julie Walters, Academy Award winning Jim Broadbent, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin in the upcoming film, PADDINGTON IN PERU. With BAFTA winner Ben Whishaw set to reprise his role as the voice of Paddington and BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Imelda Staunton returning as the voice of Aunt Lucy. STUDIOCANAL and producer David Heyman announced that all are in advance negotiations today.

The production, which will film in the UK, Peru and Colombia with principal photography beginning on July 24^th 2023, will see Mortimer join the Brown family as Mrs. Brown. Sally Hawkins, who portrayed Mrs. Brown in Paddington and Paddington 2 said: “For me it has felt the right time to hand the reins over to another, and one can’t get much better than the truly wonderful Emily Mortimer, she is extraordinarily special. She will embody the essence of Mary Brown and yet make it utterly her own.  However, I am, and will always be in love with Paddington’s world. I already greatly miss my on and off-screen family – the experience of making the first two films has truly been some of the best and most creative times I have had in the world of film. They both gave me so much joy. I will forever hold them so very close to my heart indeed.”

Directed by award-winning Dougal Wilson, PADDINGTON IN PERU brings Paddington’s story full circle as he returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.

STUDIOCANAL who developed the film, is fully financing and will distribute in the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Poland, Australia and New Zealand as well as through partners in China and Japan. Sony Pictures will distribute in the USA, Canada and other key international territories including Latin America.

Colman, who won the Academy Award for her role in The Favourite, will play THE REVEREND MOTHER, a blithe and sunny guitar-playing nun who runs the Home for Retired Bears. Banderas, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Pain and Glory, plays HUNTER CABOT, a dashing and intrepid riverboat captain who offers to help the Brown family on their Peruvian adventure. His daughter, GINA CABOT, will be played by rising star Rachel Zegler who won Golden Globe and NBR Awards for her performance in West Side Story.

Director Dougal Wilson says “I am absolutely delighted to be working with such a wonderful cast on the next instalment of the Paddington story. I was already an enormous fan of our returning actors, but for them to be joined by Olivia, Antonio, Emily and Rachel is beyond thrilling.”

STUDIOCANAL CEO Anna Marsh expands “We are so delighted to partner once again with David, Rosie and the fantastic Heyday Films team on this, our third Paddington film together.  With Dougal at the helm, we are assured that PADDINGTON IN PERU will encapsulate all of the heart, humour and warm chaos of the beloved Paddington 1 & 2 films while taking Paddington and the Brown family on a brand new adventure. It seems only fitting that we welcome some new cast and locations to this – a new adventure for us all. It almost feels (now) that our script was written for Olivia, Antonio and Rachel; and with Emily on board as Mary Brown it’s a dream come true to look ahead to production with this incredible team. It is so imperative to us that we honour Michael Bond’s legacy and indeed that we deliver for audiences worldwide.”

“I could not be more excited about the joyful trio of Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas and Rachel Zegler joining Paddington on his latest adventure” said Producer David Heyman of Heyday Films. “And while we are very sorry that Sally Hawkins is leaving us after two glorious films, we are thrilled and grateful to be welcoming the brilliant Emily Mortimer into the Brown family and cannot wait to work once again with the utterly brilliant Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, Imelda Staunton, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin.”

PADDINGTON IN PERU is based on the best-selling and internationally adored series of children’s stories by British author Michael Bond with a story by Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton and a screenplay by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont. Heyday Films is producing with David Heyman and Rosie Alison as producers and with Rob Silva as co-producer. Director of the first two films, Paul King serves as Executive Producer alongside Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern and Dan MacRae from STUDIOCANAL and Tim Wellspring and Jeffrey Clifford.

STUDIOCANAL, a 100% affiliate of CANAL+ Group held by Vivendi, is Europe’s leader in production, distribution and international sales of feature films and series, operating in all nine major European markets – France, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, Denmark and Benelux – as well as in Australia and New Zealand.  It finances and produces around 30 films per year, distributes around 80 films per year. It owns the largest library in Europe and one of the most prestigious libraries in the world, boasting more than 8 000 titles from 60 countries, spanning 100 years of film history. 20 million euros has been invested into the restoration of 750 classic films over the past 5 years. In addition, STUDIOCANAL also produces almost 20 series each year and operates at an international level by globally distributing its scripted productions and CANAL+ Originals (2,000 hours of current and library content in distribution). All productions take place directly through STUDIOCANAL entities or with its award-winning network of 14 production companies in Europe and in the United States (STUDIOCANAL Series, LAILAPS FILMS, RED PRODUCTION COMPANY, URBAN MYTH FILMS, BAMBÚ PRODUCCIONES, STUDIOCANAL ORIGINAL, 2e BUREAU, SUNNYMARCH TV, SAM Productions, DINGIE, KINO SWIAT, BIRDIE PICTURES, STRONG FILM & TELEVISION, THE PICTURE COMPANY).

Heyday Films is an independent production company, founded and run by producer David Heyman. Formed in 1997, Heyday produced all eight movies in the Harry Potter series, as well as the Academy Award-winning Gravity directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In addition to the first two Paddington films, other credits range from the Fantastic Beast series to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and White Noise. Forthcoming films include Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Paul King’s Wonka.