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SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Paddington in Peru,” which releases in U.K. theaters on Friday and on Jan. 17 in the U.S.
In a move that should delight the many — many — fans of “Paddington 2,” one of the film’s best-loved characters has come back for another bite of the marmalade sandwich in the franchise’s third installment.
“Paddington in Peru,” which launches in the U.K. on Nov. 8 (it’s not out in the U.S. until Jan. 17), sees the bear head back to his homeland with his adopted family the Browns for an adventure involving Olivia Colman’s devious guitar-playing nun, Antonio Bandera’s mysterious ship captain and a missing Aunt Lucy. But right at the very end of the movie, back in London as the credits roll, Hugh Grant makes a triumphant return as the beloved antagonist and narcissistic failed actor Phoenix Buchanan, last seen fronting a spectacular, high-kicking song and dance number from prison.
It’s just a short scene in “Paddington in Peru,” but it shows Buchanan still incarcerated and talking to group of visiting bears (relatives of Paddington) about the possibility of putting on a jailhouse performance of “Goldilocks.” Variety hears that Grant was so keen to get involved that he actually wrote most of the lines of the sketch himself.
Of course, Grant was BAFTA-nominated for “Paddington 2,” a performance that wasn’t just considered one of his very best, but kickstarted something of a career renaissance for the former rom-com favorite. A wide-range of different — and celebrated — roles would follow, including “A Very English Scandal,” “The Undoing,” “The Gentleman,” “Wonka” and, most recently, a critically acclaimed move to horror in “Heretic.” Perhaps he thought he owed the bear?
Whatever Grant’s motivation for donning Buchanan’s stripey prison attire once more, if the very first public screening of “Paddington in Peru” is anything to go by, his return should spark wild laughter and applause (at least among those old enough to remember the second). Let’s now see if Colman can be persuaded to return for the fourth.