StudioCanal has confirmed that they are currently developing Paddington 3. The first two installments were international box office successes, so the third movie isn't too much of a surprise. With that being said, it has been quite a while since we've heard any official news about one of the world's favorite bears. Franchise star Hugh Bonneville recently said there was "forward momentum" on the sequel, and that it was "somewhere on the horizon," but he didn't have any other information about it.

Variety was the first to announce the Paddington 3 news. "We can confirm StudioCanal is working very hard on film 3 with the utmost craft and care - as with film 1 and 2," said the studio in a statement to the outlet earlier today. No story details have been revealed, but it has been confirmed that Paul King, who directed the first two installments, will not be behind the camera this time around.

Paul King will still serve as a producer on Paddington 3 and calls working on the previous two movies "one of the great treats of my life." He went on to add, "At some point, you just have to stop. It might be time for somebody else to do a twist on it... I'm trying not to do a third bear movie, which is a huge, huge mistake." Instead of Paddington 3, King is currently working on Wonka, which will serve as an origin story. The movie is based on a screenplay by Steven Rich.

The first two Paddington movies star Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and Michael Gambon. Ben Whishaw provided the voice for the beloved CGI bear and he told EW in 2018 that he was into returning for Paddington 3, though he had reservations about not having Paul King behind the camera. Whishaw said he "can't imagine what it would be like" to make a Paddington project without the director. "I absolutely love doing Paddington," he said at the time. "It takes a lot of time, and each time I've done it, it's taken the better part of a year. But... I would love to do another one."

While Paddington 3 has been officially announced, it will likely be a while before we're all able to see it. StudioCanal did not reveal how far along they are in the development process, which likely means that it's still in the pre-production phase. Hopefully we'll have a director announcement, followed by a cast reveal by the end of the year. Until then, fans will just have to be happy in knowing that the long-awaited third installment is officially happening. Variety was the first to announce the Paddington 3 development news.