Stars of the box-office busting Paddington film series gathered in London on Sunday for the world premiere of its latest instalment, but there was no sign of the enigmatic leading bear. "Paddington in Peru", directed by Dougal Wilson, sees the much-loved bear return to his homeland, capering through the Amazon rainforest in his first film outing in seven years. The bear, in his famous blue duffle coat and red hat, returns to find his aunt Lucy, who has moved to a retirement home.
Accompanied by his adoptive family, the Browns, he finds himself drawn into adventures in search of the mythical lost city of gold, El Dorado. Hugh Bonneville once again plays Mr Brown, while his wife is this time played by Emily Mortimer. Also starring are Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman as a singing nun and Spaniard Antonio Banderas as an adventurous ship captain.
The previous two films, released in 2014 and 2017, raked in more than $500 million at the box office worldwide and received widespread acclaim, scoring critic scores of 97 percent and 99 percent respectively on review website Rotten Tomatoes. Banderas, Bonneville, Colman and Mortimer were among those at the Odeon Cinema on London's Leicester Square for Sunday's premiere. Sign up to get our free daily email of the biggest stories! A-Lister Hugh Grant, who starred as Phoenix Buchanan -- the main antagonist of Paddington 2 --, was also in attendance.
The friendly but accident-prone teddy bear from "deepest, darkest Peru" first appeared i.