Paddington Bear's new onscreen adventure will be written soon, as the fourth film in the franchise seems to have found its writer. As per a report on Variety, Armando Iannucci, an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning writer, is set to fill up his pen with ink for Paddington 4.
Iannucci is known for his satirical writing in shows such as Veep and The Thick of It. He is set to co-write with Simon Blackwell, Iannucci's fellow Emmy-winner and Oscar-nominated writer who also worked on his shows.
On the directorial front, the makers are circling Dougal Wilson, who helmed the third film, Paddington in Peru, to make a return to the director's chair. The award-winning filmmaker, who previously made commercials and music videos, marked his debut feature with the bear flick.
Paddington 4 comes after Paddington (2014), Paddington 2 (2017) and Paddington in Peru (2024). Together, the films have earned more than $800 million. Paul King wrote and directed the first film while sharing writing duties with Simon Farnaby for the second apart from helming. When Wilson took over, he directed from a script by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont.
Paddington's reach was boosted by the character's writing, as a coat-clad kind grizzly with overwhelming clumsiness leading himself to knock on the doors of trouble. It led to Paddington 2 being elevated to the status of cinematic masterpiece, having received critical acclaim.
Apart from his abovementioned work, Iannucci can also be credited as the comedy writer behind Alan Partridge, the iconic TV character from The Day Today. His recent work includes HBO's Avenue 5 and, on the film front, In the Loop, which he co-wrote and directed. The latter, co-writen by Blackwell, was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 2010. Apart from co-writing Iannucci's last feature film, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Blackwell is also known for creating the British dark comedy TV show Breeders and the sit-com Back.
