'Paddington 4' in the works at Studiocanal

Studiocanal announced a fourth Paddington film and new takes on genre classics Escape From New York and The Howling at its first CinemaCon presentation.

CEO and Canal+ Group chief content officer Anna Marsh told attendees at the Dolby Colosseum in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, that the new instalment in the $700m-plus global box office franchise Paddington was in the works with “world-renowned comedy writers” attached.

The first three films were shot in the UK, with Paddington In Peru also filming in Columbia and Peru. 

EVP of global marketing and distribution Hugh Spearing said that the studio is in development on a reimagining of Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf classic The Howling. John Carpenter’s dystopian action thriller Escape From New York from the same year is also getting a makeover in partnership with producers The Picture Company.

Spearing added that the studio’s genre label Sixth Dimension is lining up original thriller The Mannequin starring Melissa Leo with production scheduled to begin this summer. The Devil’s Candy director Sean Byrne is on board to helm.  Studiocanal is also in development with producers Blueprint Pictures on the adaptation of Matt Haig’s novel The Midnight Library, about a desperate woman who explores unlimited alternative versions of her life.

Executives showed first footage from London-set Taron Egerton comedy thriller Everybody Wants To F*ck Me in association with Lucky Chap; and the drama Elsinore, both of which recently shot in the UK and are scheduled to open in 2027.

Also in production for the company is Sydney Sweeney period drama The Custom Of The Country; and Justine Triet’s psychological thriller Fonda starring Mia Goth, Allison Janney, and Odessa A’Zion.