Fans of Paddington bear won’t have to travel to the jungle of Peru to find out the latest episode of his adventures as it arrives in cinemas.
Bear cups and popcorn tins are on sale at each of Parkway’s cinemas to mark the launch of the third film in the series from midday on Friday.
This week also marks the 20th anniversary of Parkway’s nine-screen cinema in Cleethorpes, opened by the late Gerald Parkes MBE in November 2004.
Cinemas throughout northern Lincolnshire are ending the year on a high with the release of Paddington In Peru and other blockbusters including Gladiator II, Moana II, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King.
The influx of big films in the last few weeks of the year is partly due to the screen writers’ and actors’ strikes in the USA last year. That created a backlog just as cinemas were beginning to recover from the loss of trade during the Covid pandemic.
Paddington is set to top the charts with hundreds of families due to visit Parkway cinemas at Cleethorpes, Louth and Beverley.
“If Paddington doesn’t come top it will definitely be in the top three,” said multi-site general manager, Andrew Cooper. He added: “We have already had lots of parents phoning up asking for merchandise and it is here are all our cinemas.
“We are looking forward to welcoming everyone. The run of big films is a nice end to the year. We even have our Christmas trees going up this week.”
Andrew started his career when the cinema opened in 2004 and began as a general assistant working for Mr Parkes. He now looks after 25 staff at Cleethorpes and those in Beverley and Louth.
The story of Paddington In Peru tells of him and his adopted family, the Browns, as they head to his native Peru because Aunt Lucy is missing him badly. Several landscape scenes were shot on location, including some at the majestic Machu Picchu.
But the cast – Hugh Bonneville as Mr Brown, Emily Mortimer replacing Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown, Julie Walters as housekeeper Mrs Bird, and new arrivals Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas – did all their acting near Watford.
