When StudioCanal first brought Paddington to the big screen 10 years ago it was something of a gamble. The trailer for the most expensive film the French production company had ever made failed to impress the internet with many calling the animation style creepy and Colin Firth, who was set to play Paddington, replaced with the lesser-known actor Ben Whishaw, making fans of the beloved literary bear nervous.
But much like Paddington himself, Paul King's film became a triumph of the underdog and was beloved by audiences, critics, and StudioCanal's accounting department. Three years later it would triumph again with Paddington 2, which by several metrics is technically the greatest film ever made and breathed new life into the career of Hugh Grant who played the dastardly thespian Phoenix Buchanan. Now, a long seven years later, Paddington returns for a third outing in Paddington In Peru, no longer the underdog but an international treasure.
