Paddington” Director Paul King In Tune For Warner Bros.’ Animated Musical “Meet The Beatles”

Rising helmer Paul King, who recently made waves directing the hit Paddington adaptation, is now in talks to tackle Warner Bros.’ animated musical MEET THE BEATLES
Plot details are thin for the animated family outing, though sources confirm that the film will utilize songs from The Beatles’ entire discography and will be shaped around the concept of the “one that got away.”
Prolific producer David Heyman, who was behind the studio’s Harry Potter franchise, is producing via his Heyday Films, along with Jeffrey Clifford. Courtenay Valenti and Racheline Benveniste are overseeing for Warner.

King will direct from a script penned by Mr. Popper’s Penguins and The Watch scribe Jay Stern, who currently writes and executive produces ABC’s new Ken Jeong comedy Dr. Ken. Jay Roach was previously set to helm the project, though he’s since exited.

Following a long and seemingly bumpy production, Paddington turned heads when it became the surprise hit in 2015, debuting to universally positive critical reception and huge financial success. The adaptation of the beloved Michael Bond books series was both written and directed by King, as well as produced by Heyman. Meet The Beatles would mark the third time the two of have worked together in a director/producer capacity, following the Paddington sequel which King is in talks to return for.

King cut his teeth on the mega-popular comedy series The Mighty Boosh and on the fantastic Richard Ayoade/Matt Holness-created satire Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace before making his feature directorial debut on the surreal comedy Bunny and the Bull, which starred Ayoade and most of the cast of Mighty Boosh.