DEATH OF STALIN WRITER/DIRECTOR ARMANDO IANNUCCI HIRED TO WRITE PADDINGTON 4 SCREENPLAY. No, really:

Armando Iannucci, the Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Glaswegian best known for creating hit TV shows Veep and The Thick of It, will write the upcoming fourth film in Studiocanal‘s hit Paddington franchise, alongside co-writer and long-time collaborator Simon Blackwell.

Paddington 4 will follow on from 2014’s hit movie Paddington, followed in 2017 by Paddington 2 and in 2024 with Paddington in Peru. The film series has had a combined global box office in excess of $800 million. The fourth Paddington movie was officially confirmed earlier this year at CinemaCon, with Studiocanal CEO and Canal+ Chief Content Officer Anna Marsh revealing that the film was in development, and that “world-renowned comedy writers” had been hired to work on the script.

Film trade publication Variety were first to confirm the news that Iannucci had been hired and stated that Dougal Wilson, the director of the third film in the series, is in talks to return.

Paddington Meets Lavrentiy Beria is going to be lit!