Paddington 4 officially confirmed – with "world-renowned comedy writers" attached

Development on a fourth Paddington film is officially under way at StudioCanal – with a team of "world-renowned comedy writers" having been assembled to pen the script for the beloved bear's next cinematic outing.

The news was confirmed by StudioCanal CEO Anna Marsh during a presentation at the ongoing CinemaCon in Las Vegas, although no further information was given about the identity of the writers or which cast members from the three previous films would return.

Confirmation of the next film is by no means a surprising development given that Marsh had previously indicated there would be a fourth entry in the franchise even before the third film – Paddington in Peru – had even been released, telling Deadline back in 2024: "We’re thinking about the next movies."

The films, based on Michael Bond's iconic children's books, have each been critical and commercial hits – with the second entry in particular often singled out for particularly exuberant praise.

Meanwhile, a new stage musical on London's West End has also been hugely popular and won seven Olivier Awards this past weekend.

A timeline for the next film's release has not yet been given, so we'll be keeping an eye out for any further updates, especially regarding which writers are on board for this next instalment.

The first two films were written by director Paul King – with Ghosts star Simon Farnaby also working on the second – before a team of Mark Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont took over script duties for the third movie, with Dougal Wilson brought on as director (although King and Farnaby also had a story credit on that occasion).

Meanwhile, it's possible that the next film could see another recasting in the Brown family, after Emily Mortimer took over the role of Mrs Brown from Sally Hawkins in Paddington in Peru. That's because Hugh Bonneville – who has played Mr Brown in all three films – previously revealed a return was unlikely.

"I don’t think so. I really don’t. I’ve loved it, but I’m getting on a bit," he told Saga Magazine earlier this year. "It’s a younger man’s job, but you can get other actors in and it will work just as well, because it’s all about the bear."

As for the rest of the cast, we can probably expect Ben Whishaw to reprise his voice role as the titular marmalade fanatic and we'd imagine to see some more high profile additions to play the villains – following on from the likes of Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant and Olivia Colman in the previous entries.

We'll let you know as soon as any further developments come to light!

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