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In addition to the all-star cast of the first instalment now UK stars Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson also join in the great family adventure
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Paddington is back! The cute bear with a soft spot for orange marmalade that took the hearts of two million cinema-goers in Germany by storm in winter 2014/15 returns to the silver screen for Christmas 2017 with another delightful adventure. The first instalment brought in more than 270 million US $ worldwide and has thus been the most successful independent family film (from a non-US studio) of all times. The second film is currently being shot in Great Britain.
Producer David Heyman and STUDIOCANAL have been able to reunite the successful team of the first adventure – behind and in front of the camera: BAFTA-nominated director Paul King will once more stage not only the Browns – Hugh Bonneville (Mr. Brown), Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Brown), Madeleine Harris (Daughter Judy), Samuel Joslin (Son Jonathan), and Julie Walters (Mrs. Bird) – but also Jim Broadbent (Mr. Gruber), Peter Capaldi (Mr. Curry), and Imelda Staunton (Aunt Lucy). This tried and proven cast now welcomes two new additions – no lesser stars than the two British actors Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson!
BAFTA and Golden Globe winner Hugh Grant (“Bridget Jones”, “Love Actually”), who has just been acting alongside Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins” will portray charismatic actor Phoenix Buchanan, who is long past his primes. However, he still has many friends in Windsor Gardens and the old charmer is able to win them over in next to no time.
Brendan Gleeson (“Harry Potter”, “Edge of Tomorrow”, and “The Guard”) takes on the role of “Knuckles” McGinty, a notorious safe-breaker and once mighty muscle man, who will turn out to be an important ally for Paddington in the end. Gleeson was awarded an Emmy for playing Winston Churchill in HBO’s “Into the Storm” and can soon be admired in Ben Affleck’s “Live By Night” and in “Assassin’s Creed”.
Paul King is looking forward to the reunion: “It is a great pleasure to come back to the delightful and warm-hearted world of Paddington. It was so exciting to see how much the audience around the world has come to love him. And I couldn’t be happier that Hugh and Brendan now join the cast to breathe life into his next adventure. I really hope we are going to produce a film that honours the little bear.” “I am looking forward to produce another Paddington adventure. Directed by Paul King it is bound to be a special experience. And I am glad that Hugh and Brendan will add to this extraordinary cast”, said producer David Heyman |
Ron Halpern, EVP STUDIOCANAL International Productions and Acquisitions, adds: “We at STUDIOCANAL love Paddington very much. Nothing could have made us happier than start working with Paul King, David Heyman and their wonderful cast on a new Paddington adventure.”
STUDIOCANAL is responsible for financing, producing and the international sales of the film. What is more, they will distribute the film to theatres in Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and Australia/New Zealand.
Paddington 2 – directed by: Paul King, featuring: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson and many others.
Theatrical release: 7 December 2017, distributed by STUDIOCANAL
About the film:
The loveable bear Paddington with his floppy hat and duffle coat has not only found a new home as part of the Brown family, he is also popular with the neighbourhood: Always polite, obliging, and always in a good mood. What is more, everyone loves his marmalade sandwiches and he never leaves the house without them. When Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday is just around the corner Paddington starts looking for the perfect present. And he finds it in Mr. Gruber’s loveable antiques shop that holds so many treasures: A unique pop-up picture book has caught Paddington’s attention. However, the little clumsy bear has to do more than a few odd jobs to afford it – and chaos is as always inevitable. But then the book gets stolen! Paddington and the Browns set off to track down the thief who appears to be a master of disguises… |
