Paul King's movie adaptation of the beloved childhood character has hit a bit of a speed bump with the news that Firth has decided to drop out of the project.

The ever-charming Firth told Entertainment Weekly that the character simply "didn't have my voice", and that he couldn't go ahead with it as a result.

With a trailer having already been released, it is a surprise to see Firth leave at this stage, given that the movie is due out at the end of November, but he stated that it was a mutual decision, and was even cracking a sly joke about it saying "after a period of denial, we’ve chosen ’conscious uncoupling’".

He added that he was still very protective of the character having seen the majority of the film, and that he would be helping them with suggestions to find the right person to voice Paddington so that the project would work in the end.

King released a statement saying "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".

Via Digitaly Spy.