Colin Firth drops out of Paddington Bear movie

Los Angeles: British actor Colin Firth is no longer attached to star in the `Paddington` movie as the voice the titular bear.The 53-year-old `The King`s Speech` star borrowed Gwyneth Paltrow`s `conscious uncoupling` phrase to announce his departure from the family adventure movie, reportedly.

"It`s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realisation that he simply doesn`t have my voice," he said in a statement. "After a period of denial we`ve chosen conscious uncoupling. 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," the actor added. Produced by David Heyman, the producer of `Harry Potter` film series, the hilarious movie follows the adventures and mishaps of a talking bear from `Darkest Peru` who gets adopted by a London family when they find him lost at Paddington Station. It is set to hit theatres on Christmas Day, December 25 in North America. The trailer was already released last week, but there was no dialogue scene for the bear. No replacement has been announced, but the remaining cast stays including Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, and Peter Capaldi. Firth will next be seen in Woody Allen`s `Magic in the Moonlight` and Matthew Vaughn`s `Kingsman: The Secret Service`.