Colin Firth will No Longer Voice 'Paddington' Bear

The most recent trailer for Paddington barely resembled the familiar adventures of the popular Brit bear, and looked more like someone was trying to emulate Yogi Bear. Even so, the idea of Colin Firth voicing Paddington left some room for hope, and now that's gone because he's decided to drop out of the film. Maybe he hated the trailer, too? He tells EW...

Firth: "After a period of denial, we’ve chosen ‘conscious uncoupling.' It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realization that he simply doesn’t have my voice. I’ve had the joy of seeing most of the film and it’s going to be quite wonderful. I still feel rather protective of this bear and I’m pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him."

Everything does seem to be copacetic between Firth and director Paul King, who had nothing but nice things to say....

King:  "I cannot thank him enough for his contribution to Paddington. We love the voice and we love the bear, but as our young bear came into being we agreed that the two didn’t seem to fit. So, with somewhat heavy hearts we decided to part ways.”

A new voice actor will be found in time for Paddington to still hit theaters on Christmas Day.

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'Paddington' Bear Arrives in First Teaser for the Holiday Movie

The world's favorite animated bear is headed to the big screen this holiday season, and thankfully we aren't talking about another Yogi Bear sequel. Instead it will be Paddington, the little suitcase-carrying bear in the blue overcoat made popular in the U.K., but has built up an audience here with appearances on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and HBO. Now the teaser trailer for the CGI/Live-Action film is here, giving us our first look at Paddington in action.

Starring Nicole Kidman, Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi, Julie Walters, Jim Brodadbent, Hugh Bonneville, and Colin Firth as the voice of Paddington, this film will chronicle the bear's arrival from Peru and first encounter with the human family that adopts him. Hopefully it will also clue us in to the origin of his love for marmalade sandwiches. Directed by Paul King (The Mighty Boosh) with Harry Potter producer David Heyman on board, Paddington will spread some holiday cheer December 12th 2014.

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