Studiocanal’s Paddington In Peru began filming on Monday (July 24) in the UK despite the challenges posed by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Paris and London-based Studiocanal is not a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The company developed the film and is financing what is the third entry in the hit $500m global family franchise. It will distribute in the UK-Ireland, France, Germany, Benelux, Australia and New Zealand, and Poland.
However, Sony Pictures, which is an AMPTP member, holds rights for the rest of the world excluding Russia, China and Japan.
Paddington In Peru is shooting in London, Colombia and Peru. It is directed by commercials filmmaker Dougal Wilson from a script by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont based on a story by Paddington 1 and 2 collaborators Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Burton.
David Heyman and Rosie Alison produce for the UK’s Heyday Films.
The cast is headed by Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Olivia Colman and Emily Mortimer, the latter replacing Sally Hawkins in the role of Mrs Brown, and is predominantly British.
US actor Rachel Zegler is also attached to the project but Zegler posted on social media on July 14 suggesting she had flown back to the US in support of the actors’ strike. The West Side Story star posted a picture on her Instagram story which showed a shelf of Paddington bears and the caption “bye bye London (sooner than we anticipated) (SAG strong) see you soon nyc [sic]”. Zegler has also been photographed at SAG-AFTRA protests in New York.
The status of additional cast member Antonio Banderas is unknown.
Updates on the cast are expected imminently.
Paddington In Peru follows on from 2014’s Paddington and 2017’s Paddington 2 and sees the titular bear and the Brown family travel to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy.
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