Paddington in Peru filming in the UK and Colombia

Amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, production on Paddington in Peru is officially underway in the UK and Colombia. 

STUDIOCANAL is keeping plot details for the third instalment under wraps at present, but will see the eponymous bear "getting into sticky situations in deepest, darkest Peru”, his country of birth.

The threequel is shooting in London and Colombia, with the latter doubling for Peru where a portion of the film will be set. The London unit began production on July 24, in spite of the challenges faced by the US actors' strike.

The cast is lead by Ben Whishaw, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters, Olivia Colman and Emily Mortimer, who replaces Sally Hawkins in the role of Mrs Brown.

American actor Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) is also attached to the film but an update posted to her Instagram feed on July 14 suggests she had flown back to the US in support of the actors' strike. Posting alongside a picture of a shelf of Paddington Bear plush toys, Zegler said: "bye bye London (sooner than we anticipated) (SAG strong) see you soon nyc [sic]”.

It is unclear whether she will join the production at a later stage. The status of additional cast member Antonio Banderas is also unknown. 

Paddington in Peru is helmed by commercials filmmaker Dougal Wilson (John Lewis: Buster the Boxer) from a script written by Mark Burton, Jon Foster and Hames Lamont based on a story by Paddington 1 (2014) and 2 (2017) collaborators Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Burton.

David Heyman and Rosie Alison produce for the UK’s Heyday Films.