The film was confirmed to be in development in April 2015. Principal photography began in October 2016 and ended in June 2017. It was theatrically released on 10 November 2017 in the United Kingdom and on 6 December in France, and grossed $290million.
Having found an adopted home with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, London, Paddington begins working to buy a pop-up book of London in Samuel Gruber's antique shop for his aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, working as a window cleaner and saving his wages. One night, he witnesses a burglary at the shop, in which the book is stolen. Paddington pursues the thief, but is framed and arrested, and the thief—the Browns' neighbour, actor Phoenix Buchanan—escapes with the book. With no evidence of the thief's existence, Paddington is convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison.
Knuckles McGinty, the prison chef, recruits Paddington to work in the kitchen after inadvertently tasting one of his marmalade sandwiches. Meanwhile, the Browns, seeking to exonerate Paddington, put up sketches of the thief all over London, while Buchanan uses clues within the book to locate a hidden fortune. Growing suspicious of Buchanan, Mary and Henry break into his house, where they discover a secret attic filled with numerous costumes, including the one he wore during the burglary. They present the evidence to the police, who decline it. Meanwhile, Paddington believes that the Browns have forgotten him when they miss a visit.
Paddington and Knuckles, along with two other inmates Phibs and Spoon, escape the prison at midnight. While Paddington's fellow escapees had initially promised to help prove his innocence, they later reveal that their true intention is to flee the country, prompting Paddington to abandon them. Paddington uses a public telephone to contact the Browns, who inform him that Buchanan is the real thief. Aiming to expose Buchanan, they arrange to meet at Paddington station, where a carnival train carrying the hidden fortune is due to depart.
Paddington, disguising himself as a litter bin, boards the train immediately before it leaves, and the Browns follow him in an LNER Peppercorn Class A1. Buchanan locks Paddington inside the train's brake van and severs the coupling, but is then subdued by Henry. The brake van rolls into a nearby river with Paddington trapped inside, but Knuckles, Phibs, and Spoon arrive to help Mary save Paddington.
Paddington falls into a coma, but wakes up on Aunt Lucy's birthday to find himself at home. He learns that he has been exonerated, Buchanan has been arrested, and the police have taken the book as evidence. Much to his delight, he also discovers that the Browns and their neighbours have arranged transport from Peru for Aunt Lucy to visit London in person.
Cast
Hugh Bonneville as Henry Brown, the Browns' patriarch, Mary's husband, Judy and Jonathan's father, and the adoptive father of Paddington.
Sally Hawkins as Mary Brown, Henry's wife, Judy and Jonathan's mother, and Paddington's adoptive mother. This is the last film in the series where Hawkins portrayed Mary Brown before Emily Mortimer took over the role for the next film.
Brendan Gleeson as Knuckles McGinty, a chef of Portobello Prison whom Paddington befriends
Julie Walters as Mrs Bird, the housekeeper of the Brown residence
Jim Broadbent as Mr Samuel Gruber, the owner of an antique shop
Peter Capaldi as Mr Reginald Curry, the Brown family's cranky neighbour
Madeleine Harris as Judy Brown, Henry and Mary's daughter, Jonathan's sister, and Paddington's adoptive sister
Samuel Joslin as Jonathan "J-Dog" Brown, Henry and Mary's son, Judy's brother, and Paddington's adoptive brother
Principal photography began on 18 October. Many of the domestic interiors were filmed on stages at Pinewood Studios and Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, but producers also shot at key central London locations like Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral. Jonah Coombes, supervising location on both Paddington and the sequel, stated, "We were looking for locations that celebrated London and delivered the kind of cinematic scale we were looking for." Framestore provided the visual effects for the film, including the elaborate pop-up book sequence. On 7 February 2017, filming featured in the CBBC documentary series All Over the Workplace. Filming took place in London's Little Venice for three days, and also at Shepton Mallet Prison and Knebworth Park. Craig Revel Horwood choreographed the prison dance scene. Principal photography wrapped on 27 June 2017. Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear, died the same day, and the film was dedicated to him.
Writing and influences
King and co-writer Simon Farnaby initially found it difficult to devise a story for the sequel because Paddington does not possess a conventional character flaw that needs to be overcome. King said that the films of Frank Capra, particularly Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), provided the eventual structure: placing an innocent, well-intentioned protagonist in a cynical environment and testing whether his values could survive. King described the prison storyline as the ultimate test of Paddington's belief in kindness and politeness.
For the film's visual style, King cited The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), particularly its colour palette, as an influence on the transformation of the prison into a pastel-coloured environment. He also cited Amélie (2001) and the films of Jacques Tati as influences on the romanticised depiction of the city, while Charlie Chaplin influenced the film's visual comedy and prison sequences.
Additional music in the film, not included on the soundtrack recording, includes "Rain on the Roof" (Stephen Sondheim) – Hugh Grant, which is performed during the end credits.
Release
Paddington 2 had its world premiere in London on 5 November 2017, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 10 November. It was released on 6 December in France, 7 December in Germany, 21 December in Australia and New Zealand, and 12 January 2018 in the United States.
Distribution
StudioCanal distributed Paddington 2 in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
The Weinstein Company was originally slated to distribute Paddington 2 in the United States and Canada through TWC-Dimension, as with the first film. However, following the sexual abuse allegations against the studio founder Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, Heyday Films and StudioCanal severed ties with them, believing that a children's film should not be associated with the Weinstein scandal. In November 2017, Warner Bros. Pictures, which distributed Heyday's Harry Potter films and was already distributing the Paddington films in Spain, acquired the film's North American distribution rights for $32 million (£24 million). Warner Bros. also gained the right of first refusal to distribute future Paddington films in North America, though it was later rescinded when it was announced that the third film would be distributed by Sony Pictures in that region.
On 26 October 2017, it was announced that Paddington would appear in the 2017 Marks & Spencer Christmas advertisement. A teaser was released on 4 November 2017. The advertisement itself was released on 7 November 2017 and had its television premiere on the Pride of Britain Awards 2017. Whishaw returned to voice Paddington, with the advertisement also featuring Mark Benton and Angela Rippon.
Home media
Paddington 2 was released in the United Kingdom on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on 12 March 2018. In the United States, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the film for digital purchase on 27 March 2018 and on Blu-ray and DVD on 24 April.
Reception
Box office
Paddington 2 grossed $40.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $242.8 million in other countries (including $110.9 million in the United Kingdom), for a worldwide total of $290.1 million.
In its first weekend in the United Kingdom, the film grossed $10.9 million (£8.3 million), more than the first film ($8/£6 million), becoming StudioCanal's highest-grossing film opening weekend in the United Kingdom to date. In its second weekend, the film dropped 20% and grossed another $8.8 million (£6.6 million).
In the United States and Canada, Paddington 2 was released alongside the openings of The Commuter and Proud Mary, as well as the wide expansion of The Post, and was projected to gross $15–17 million from 3,702 theatres in opening weekend. It made $2.4 million on its first day and $11 million over the weekend (including $15 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend), finishing 7th at the box office, and marking a near-50% decline from the opening of the first film. It made $8 million in its second weekend, dropping 27% and finishing 6th.
According to the British Film Institute's 2019 Statistical Yearbook, after adjusting for inflation, Paddington 2 was the fourth-highest-grossing independent UK film released at the British box office between 1975 and 2018, with an inflation-adjusted gross of £43.4 million. It ranked immediately ahead of the first Paddington, which placed fifth.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Paddington 2 has an approval rating of 99% based on 253 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Paddington 2 honours its star's rich legacy with a sweet-natured sequel whose adorable visuals are matched by a story perfectly balanced between heartwarming family fare and purely enjoyable all-ages adventure." On 18 January 2018, it became the most-reviewed film ever to remain at 100% on the site, with 164 positive reviews, beating Toy Story 2, which had 163 positive reviews at the time. Lady Bird had previously beaten the record the past November, but registered a negative review at 196. In 2021, the 100% score for Citizen Kane (1941), often regarded as the greatest film ever made, was changed to 99% following the inclusion of a contemporary negative review; some publications satirically labelled Paddington 2 as a better film than Citizen Kane due to their respective scores. In May 2021, Paddington 2's score dropped to 99% after a negative review was registered on the site.
On Metacritic, another review aggregator, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On French entertainment information publisher AlloCiné, the film has an average grade of 4.0/5 based on 22 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned by its predecessor.
Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote,"Paddington 2 won't save the world, sadly, but its existence makes everything just that tiny bit better and more, well, bearable." Guy Lodge of Variety wrote, "Another near pawfect family entertainment, honouring the cosy, can-do spirit of Michael Bond's stories while bringing them smoothly into a bustling, diverse 21st century London—with space for some light anti-Brexit subtext to boot." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "The film is pitched with insouciant ease and a lightness of touch at both children and adults without any self-conscious shifts in irony or tone: it's humour with the citrus tang of top quality thick-cut marmalade." In 2019, The Guardian ranked Paddington 2 the 69th best film of the 21st century.
The Wire creator, author, and show runner David Simon commented in 2026 that Paddington 2 is "as if Shakespeare and Moliere both rose from their graves and banged out one last triumph together... And no, I'm not being hyperbolic."
In February 2019, StudioCanal and Nickelodeon announced The Adventures of Paddington, a computer-animated television series with Ben Whishaw reprising his role as the voice of Paddington. The series premiered in the United States on Nickelodeon on 20 January 2020, followed by an international rollout beginning in March.
Sequel
A third film, titled Paddington in Peru, was announced in June 2022, with Dougal Wilson replacing Paul King as director. King remained involved as an executive producer and contributed to the story. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2024 and in the United States on 14 February 2025.
Legacy
In the years following its release, Paddington 2 developed a reputation as one of the most acclaimed family films and sequels of its era. In January 2018, it became the most-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes to retain a 100% approval rating, surpassing the previous record held by Toy Story 2. In May 2021, Guinness World Records verified the film as the most positively reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes, with 245 positive reviews and a 100% score.
The film has continued to appear in retrospective rankings. In 2019, The Guardian placed it 69th on its list of the 100 best films of the 21st century. In 2025, Rotten Tomatoes ranked it 22nd on its list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century, and in 2026 placed it fourth on its ranking of the greatest film sequels.
The film's reputation was referenced prominently in the 2022 comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which Javi, played by Pedro Pascal, recommends Paddington 2 to a fictionalised Nicolas Cage, and the two bond after watching it together. Director Tom Gormican said the filmmakers included it because they considered it "a perfect movie", while Cage described it as "quite wonderful".
