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News Swiftly

Paddington firm Canal+ lists in UK to protect bear's Britishness

Paddington firm lists in UK to protect British bear

BFA/StudioCanal/Alamy

Paddington will not be Americanised for US audiences, the boss of the firm behind the film franchise has pledged. "This is the most British bear? it has appealed to a lot of people because it is authentic," said Canal+ chief executive Maxime Saada. The news comes as the the French streaming company, which owns the film rights to the iconic British bear, began trading on the London Stock Exchange on Monday. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described it as a "vote of confidence" in the London market, which has struggled to attract new business in recent years.

Canal+ is being spun off from the Vivendi media stable, and is reported to be planning further global expansion from its new London base.

'We could have made an American movie'

Mr Saada told the BBC: "We got some feedback from American companies that Paddington the bear is not American enough. "To maximise the Paddington box office, we could have made an American movie." But he said the British bear's heritage would be preserved. "This is really our most prized intellectual property... we are very careful about being very close to its roots and authentic." Canal+ is behind streaming hits such as Versailles and its subsidiary StudioCanal owns the rights to an array of movies including Total Recall, the Shaun the Sheep and Bridget Jones franchises, and more recently the Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black, as well as the three films featuring the marmalade-munching bear. The latest Paddington film, released last month, shows the bear and his adopted British family returning to his roots in Peru amid a trail of mishaps. Mr Saada said Paddington 4 was "certainly not coming tomorrow" but confirmed that the company is working on a follow-up and an animated series.

'UK is important to us'