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In our cold, damp Brexit-ing London, there’s a little ray of sunshine on the horizon. A certain Peruvian bear of diminutive stature is returning to our screens. Filming has just started on the sequel to ‘Paddington’, 2014's triumphant and giddy-goose eccentric film of Michael Bond’s books about the marmalade-loving bear with a rumble in his tummy.
Ben Whishaw is returning as the voice of Paddington (who was based on a teddy bear Michael Bond bought in Selfridges for his wife in Christmas 1956). Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters and Peter Capaldi will also be making a comeback.
The lovely thing about the first film was its inclusive message about how London welcomes newcomers and diversity. As our global film editor, Dave Calhoun, wrote at the time: ‘The film is a quiet two-claws-up to xenophobia.’ We can’t wait to see what writer-director Paul King will have to say about Little Englanders this time around.
The new film finds Paddington happily settled into Notting Hill. He gets into a spot of bother when a book he buys for Aunt Lucy’s hundredth birthday is stolen. Hugh Grant joins the cast as a local west London celebrity – a vain and charming actor – while Brendan Gleeson plays a notorious safe-cracker.
The only downer is that we’ll have to wait until November 2017 to watch ‘Paddington 2’.
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