Paddington 2

Paddington, having settled with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, has become popular in his community, offering people emotional support in various ways. To purchase a unique pop-up book of London in Samuel Gruber's antique shop for his aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, Paddington performs several odd jobs and saves his wages, but the book is stolen. Paddington gives chase, but the thief escapes, and Paddington is framed and arrested. Although Gruber and the Browns do not believe that Paddington stole the book, with no evidence that the thief even existed, Paddington is convicted and sent to prison. The thief returns home and is revealed to be Phoenix Buchanan, an egotistical ex-actor who lives near the Browns.

While in prison, Paddington befriends many of the inmates, including the short-tempered chef Knuckles, who recruits Paddington, impressed by his marmalade sandwich recipe. The Browns work to clear Paddington's name, putting up sketches of the thief. Buchanan uses the book to locate a series of clues within London's famous landmarks, which he believes will unveil the location of a secret treasure. During their efforts to prove Paddington's innocence, the Browns encounter a fortune teller who informs them that the book leads to the hidden fortune of the original author.

With Paddington inside, the prison is a much livelier place, but Paddington struggles to remain positive when the Browns are unable to prove his innocence, but keep hunting. Becoming convinced that Buchanan is the culprit, the Browns look for the stolen book inside his house. They find a secret attic where Buchanan's various costumes are stashed, including the costume of the thief. Buchanan returns home and they are forced to leave. Meanwhile, they miss a prison visit with Paddington, causing him to believe that they have forgotten about him.

Paddington soon joins Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon in a prison break who promise to aid in proving his innocence, but promptly abandon the idea in order to leave the country, inviting Paddington to join them. Paddington refuses and, while avoiding the police, uses a public telephone to contact the Browns, who assert that Buchanan is the real culprit. To catch him, they arrange to meet at Paddington Station, where a carnival train carrying the supposed location of the hidden fortune is due to leave shortly.

Paddington reaches the station and boards the train just as it leaves. The Browns pursue on a LNER A3 Pacific at the opposite platform. When caught up, Henry, Judy and Mrs. Bird board the other train and confront Buchanan, who overwhelms them and makes good his initial escape. Paddington is left stranded in the train's rear carriage, the coupling of which Buchanan severs, leaving it to crash into a nearby river. Mary tries to rescue Paddington but struggles to open the locked carriage; she is soon assisted by Knuckles and the other inmates, who have had a change of heart and decide to help Paddington as promised. Eventually, Henry knocks out Buchanan just as he tries to access the so-called treasure, and Buchanan is arrested.

Paddington, now declared innocent, becomes very ill after the events, slipping into a three-day coma and waking up on Lucy's birthday. Paddington is disappointed that he cannot give Lucy the book, which was taken in as evidence, but soon discovers the Browns, with the help of various other people in the neighbourhood, made sure Lucy could come to London and see it for herself. When answering the door to her, Paddington rushes up and hugs her, wishing her a happy birthday.

During the credits, Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon are pardoned. Buchanan is found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Six months later, he is shown to be putting his experience as a performer to further use, hosting shows for the inmates and providing entertainment throughout the building.

Main Cast

• Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown, Mary's husband and Judy and Jonathan's father
• Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown, Henry's wife and Judy and Jonathan's mother
• Hugh Grant as Phoenix Buchanan, a narcissistic actor and former star of the West End theatre, reduced to making adverts for dog food.[6][7]
• Brendan Gleeson as Knuckles McGinty, a short-tempered safe cracker[8] and prison cook
• Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown, Mary and Henry's daughter and Jonathan's sister
• Samuel Joslin as Jonathan Brown, Mary and Henry's son and Judy's brother
• Julie Walters as Mrs. Bird, the Browns' housekeeper
• Jim Broadbent as Samuel Gruber, an antique shop owner and a friend of the Browns
• Peter Capaldi as Mr. Curry, the Browns' busybody neighbour who despises Paddington

Voices

• Ben Whishaw as Paddington Brown, Lucy and Pastuzo's adoptive bear nephew
• Imelda Staunton as Aunt Lucy, Paddington's adoptive aunt
• Michael Gambon as Uncle Pastuzo, Paddington's adoptive uncle

Supporting Cast

• Joanna Lumley as Felicity Fanshaw, Phoenix's agent
• Eileen Atkins as Madame Kozlova, the fortune teller at the fair
• Ben Miller as Colonel Lancaster
• Simon Farnaby as Barry, the security guard
• Jessica Hynes as Miss Kitts, a newsagent
• Noah Taylor as Phibs, an inmate who is a former restaurant critic
• Aaron Neil as Spoon, an inmate
• Tom Davis as T-Bone, an inmate
• Tom Conti as Judge Gerald Biggleswade, a judge who presides over Paddington's trial, having previously been a victim of a botched haircut by Paddington.
• Sanjeev Bhaskar as Dr. Jafri
• Marie-France Alvarez as Mademoiselle Dubois
• Maggie Steed as Mrs. Gertrude Biggleswade, the wife of Gerald Biggleswade
• Richard Ayoade as a Forensic Investigator
• Meera Syal as a Prosecutor

In April 2015, David Heyman, the producer of Paddington (2014), confirmed that a sequel was in development.[9] It was also announced that Paul King would return to direct, and co-write the screenplay with Simon Farnaby.[10] Heyman's Heyday Films, and StudioCanal, produced the film, making it a British-French co-production.[11] By October 2016, most of the cast of Paddington — Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Ben Whishaw and Imelda Staunton — were confirmed to be returning for the sequel, joined by Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson.[8]

Principal photography began on 18 October 2016.[8] Many of the domestic interiors were filmed on stages at Pinewood Studios and Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, but producers also shot at key central London locations like Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral. Jonah Coombes, supervising location on both Paddington and the sequel, stated, “We were looking for locations that celebrated London and delivered the kind of cinematic scale we were looking for.”[12] Framestore provided the visual effects for the film,[13] including the elaborate pop-up book sequence.[14] On 7 February 2017, filming featured in the CBBC documentary series All Over the Workplace.[15] Filming took place in London’s Little Venice for three days,[16] and also at Shepton Mallet Prison[17] and Knebworth Park.[18] Principal photography ended on 27 June 2017. Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear, died the same day, and the film was dedicated to him.[19]

The music of the film was composed by Dario Marianelli.[20]

Additional music in the film, not included on the soundtrack recording:

Rain on the Roof – performed by Hugh Grant, during the end credits. Song from Follies by Stephen Sondheim[21]

Paddington 2 had its world premiere in London on 5 November 2017,[22] and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 10 November.[23] It was released on 6 December in France, 7 December in Germany, 21 December in Australia and New Zealand,[11] and 12 January 2018 in the United States.[24] StudioCanal distributed the film in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.[11]

The film was originally set to be distributed by The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films in the United States through their sub-label, TWC-Dimension, as the last film was. Following the sexual abuse allegations against Weinstein Company founder Harvey Weinstein, Heyday Films and StudioCanal looked for another American distributor for Paddington 2, because they believed that a film for children should not be associated with the Weinstein scandal.[25][26] In mid-November 2017, Warner Bros. Pictures, which distributed Heyman's Harry Potter films and was already distributing the Paddington films in Spain, acquired the film's North American distribution rights for $32 million (£24 million), making it the first film in the series to do so.[27]

In June 2016, StudioCanal CEO Didier Lupfer stated that the studio was committed to making a third Paddington film.[77] In November 2017, David Heyman told Digital Spy that though the script for a third film had not been developed, discussions about locations, ideas and scenes had already begun.[78] In November 2018, Heyman noted that a third film was likely to happen, but that Paul King would not be back to direct, though he would still be involved in a prominent creative capacity.[79]

• List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website
• List of films considered the best

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paddington 2.

• Paddington 2 on IMDb
• Paddington 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Paddington 2 at Metacritic