The first Paddington movie was a warm, funny adaptation of the books by Michael Bond, which follow the adventures of the beloved British bear. That’s why we have such high hopes for Paul King’s sequel, which has already been released in the U.K. but won’t arrive stateside until Jan. 12. But a new trailer released on Tuesday introduced an alarming plot point that we didn’t anticipate from a movie about an anthropomorphic bear: Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) will spend at least part of the movie in prison, wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.
Let’s back up: The trailer begins with Paddington happily living with the Browns (including Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins) and doing odd jobs so that he can purchase a present for his aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton). This includes washing windows—sometimes with his butt! Hilarious stuff, you guys. But then, Paddington is accused of stealing a rare pop-up book, the very same one he wanted to buy for Lucy. And he goes to prison for it.
From the looks of the trailer, the rest of the film will involve Paddington advocating for criminal justice reform while the rest of the family desperately tries to clear his name, even breaking the law themselves to do so. Or maybe there’ll be jokes about pink prison uniforms and Hugh Grant hamming it up as the film’s villain. Either way, the reviews from across the pond are glowing, so it should be something to look forward to in the new year, whether or not it devotes a significant portion of screen time to Paddington’s lawyer’s eczema.
