The more projects Paul King takes on, the less likely it looks like he will ever direct Paddington 3. As unfortunate as that news is, King’s ability to bring “magical ideas to explore human emotions” will live on in other films.

Now the Paddington director will be at the helm of a new film for Fox Searchlight. According to new reports, King will be behind the lens for Time’s Fool, an adaptation of Glyn Maxwell‘s novel Time’s Fool: A Tale in Verse. More on the report, below.

According to THR, Jon Croker will pen the adaptation of Time’s Fool. The book follows a young man who is cursed to ride a train for all eternity “” except for one night every seven years, when the train pulls into his hometown, and he has only a few hours to unravel the nature of his curse.

Here’s what King had to say about the project:

Croker added:

King and Croker will also produce, along with Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts producer David Heyman.

With this new project, it looks like Paddington 3 is being put on the back burner. King brought so much charm to the original film and didn’t miss a single nuance to the titular bear. And that carried on in the sequel. So of course I would have liked to have seen a third installment sooner than later. That being said, we get to see King work on other things that aren’t Paddington.

In addition to Time’s Fool, King will also be directing a live-action Pinocchio and a Willy Wonka prequel.

Of course, we will keep you up to date as soon as more developments come in.

[Source: THR]