Paddington 4 Just Got The Most Unexpected New Writer
From the Oval Office and Downing Street to Windsor Gardens.
What’s the best film of all time? That’s a question that could start a fiery debate in some circles, but for a little bit, the verifiable answer was, in fact, Paddington 2. Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane has long held the title on Rotten Tomatoes, but after a negative review resurfaced, it was brought down to a 99% score, meaning Paddington 2’s 100% score beat it.
This claim may have been short-lived, but the love of the Paddington movies has stood the test of time. Across three movies and now a West End musical, the live-action adventures of the Peruvian bear have taken him to prison, underwater, and even back to his homeland. But now, the film series is taking a big swing by recruiting another British legend — but one with a much less family-friendly portfolio.
Longtime collaborators Simon Blackwell and Armando Iannucci will co-write the fourth Paddington movie.
According to Variety, The Thick of It and Veep creator Armando Iannucci will pen the script for Paddington 2 alongside Simon Blackwell, who also wrote on both shows. Dougal Wilson, who directed the third movie, Paddington in Peru, is also in talks to return to direct.
Paddington 4 will mark the first movie to not involve Paul King, the writer-director who served double duty on the first two films before only contributing the story for Paddington in Peru. But Armando Iannucci is definitely a fitting replacement — he’s written movies like The Personal History of David Copperfield and In The Loop, and he’s a comedy personality himself. He’s even currently participating in the newest season of the hit British game show Taskmaster alongside Kumail Nanjiani.
But there’s one big issue with Iannucci’s involvement. He’s not exactly known for wholesome entertainment. Since the beginning of The Thick of It, the calling card for an Armando Iannucci show has been expletive-filled political satire, whether it’s Peter Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker cursing out a minor minister in the British administration or Julia Louis-Dreyfus scolding her staff in Veep. Even when he branches out to other genres, like HBO sci-fi series Avenue 5, the political satire shines through.
Armando Iannucci is best known for explicit political satires like In the Loop, so Paddington will be quite the change.
With that in mind, could we see Paddington try his hand — or paw — in the political sphere in his fourth movie? It certainly wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him, as he’s already been tried as an adult in the British court system. If he’s eligible to be sent to prison, he’s definitely eligible to run for office. But perhaps this gig will give Iannucci a chance to try something new, a story that may echo his past work but take it out of its usual habitat.
One thing’s for absolute sure, though: we won’t see Paddington effin and jeffin as much as Vice President Selina Meyer. He’s far too considerate for that. In the words of the bear himself, “If we’re kind and polite, the world will be right.”
