Some reports from Cannes...
Yesterday, Pete Hammond reported from Cannes where the Weinstein Company and others showed previews and footage from their upcoming films. He mentions others I'm looking forward to (Tim Burton's Big Eyes and the new film version of Shakespeare's Scottish Play), but he also makes special mention of Paddington, and it sounds good:
Another holiday picture, Paddington, a family flick based on the famous stuffed bear left at London’s Paddington Station would not on the surface seem to have Oscar written all over it, BUT after seeing an absolutely riotous and extremely clever presentation tonight I think it could fall somewhere in the vicinity between Ted and Babe. The latter nailed a Best Picture nomination and this one from Harry Potter and Gravity producer David Heyman looks like a real gem, and perhaps a major year-end surprise. At any rate it should be hugely commercial if the rest of the footage lives up to the stuff shown here at the Majestic Hotel tonight.
Sounds promising, doesn't it? The only quibble I've got: Pete, for the last time, Paddington is a REAL BEAR, not a stuffed one!
Another promising report, this one from Vulture.com's Kyle Buchanan:
Paddingtonshare
This family film, based on the beloved bear from children's books, could bring the Weinsteins one of their biggest hits ever — and a potential franchise, to boot. Colin Firth voices the titular bear, who moves in with Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins and is menaced by a fierce and fearsome Nicole Kidman, who plays an evil taxidermist. In an extended scene, we watched Paddington attempt to make sense of a human bathroom; the bear's boundless curiosity almost immediately leaves the place wrecked and flooded. People laughed. Paddington looked cute. Your kid will want one.