Paddington 3 Expected To Start Filming In Early 2022

Paddington 3 is expected to begin filming sometime during Q2 2022, according to Deadline. The date was shared by production company Studiocanal during the Cannes Film Festival.

Expectations are high for this third outing to surpass its predecessors--after all, Paddington 2 was the film that briefly dethroned Citizen Kane as the greatest film of all time, according to Rotten Tomatoes. It was announced earlier this year that Paddington 3 was finally in development after Paddington 2 hit theaters in 2018, along with the fact that Paul King--who wrote and directed the first two films--would be involved in some capacity, but not directing.

It was later announced that King would instead be directing the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka, which was announced in January. The Wonka reboot, in turn, isn't expected to hit theaters until sometime in March 2023. Actor Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) was cast in the titular role this May.

Paddington 3 will have a story by King, Simon Farnaby, and Mark Burton. The screenplay will be written by Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont. At Cannes, Studiocanal also shared that the production company plans to invest $1 billion between now and 2024 in the film. The company will also be producing a Season 3 of the counterpart TV series, The Adventures of Paddington.