--- name: "Paul King" canonical: "https://film.one/person/paul-king" fi1m_id: "paul-king" imdb_id: "nm1653753" tmdb_id: 101666 wikidata_id: "Q7151786" roles: ["Director","Writer"] born: "29 July 1978" reviewed_on_fi1m: 6 average_fi1m_score: 81 average_as: "director" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-25T00:38:12.402043+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Paul King ## Identity Paul King - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/paul-king - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** paul-king - **IMDb ID:** nm1653753 - **TMDB ID:** 101666 - **Wikidata ID:** Q7151786 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_King_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7151786, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1653753/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/101666 Director and writer. Born 29 July 1978 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Writer - **Born:** 29 July 1978, Chicago, Illinois, USA - **Active:** 2004–present - **Also known as:** 폴킹 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 6: 1 acting, 4 directing, 1 writing - **Frequently works with:** [David Heyman](https://film.one/person/david-heyman.md), [Ben Whishaw](https://film.one/person/ben-whishaw.md), [Hugh Bonneville](https://film.one/person/hugh-bonneville.md), [Madeleine Harris](https://film.one/person/madeleine-harris.md), [Sally Hawkins](https://film.one/person/sally-hawkins.md), [Samuel Joslin](https://film.one/person/samuel-joslin.md), [Simon Farnaby](https://film.one/person/simon-farnaby.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 81, as director, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 82 (2), 2010s 88 (2), 2020s 66 (2) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 81 to 80 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Genres:** Comedy 4, Family 3, Adventure 2, Fantasy 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1 - **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,259m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_King_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7151786, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1653753/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/101666 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Paddington 2*](https://film.one/film/paddington-2.md) (91) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Paddington*](https://film.one/film/paddington.md) (84) - **Disney+:** [*The Mighty Boosh*](https://film.one/tv/the-mighty-boosh.md) (80) - **Apple TV:** [*Wonka*](https://film.one/film/wonka.md) (68) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Paul King > Paul King builds playful worlds and makes their odd inhabitants good company. We value his warmth and attention to performers, but *Wonka* exposes the limit of his kindness: a character can become so agreeable that we stop being curious. In *The Mighty Boosh* (2004), the scenery can look cheerfully artificial while Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding carry on being funny in front of it. King and fellow director Steve Bendelack give the visual jokes proper attention without losing sight of the performers. Production designers James Dillon and Dennis De Groot supply the playful surroundings; cinematographers Dave Brown and John Simmons keep faces and reactions clear within them. We like King's willingness to make peculiar comedy welcoming, though some routines receive more patience than they deserve. The warmth of the partnership is a better reason to watch than the sheer quantity of strange things on screen. His feature debut, *Bunny and the Bull* (2009), was followed by *Paddington* (2014) and *Paddington 2* (2017). The move from surreal television comedy to children's books makes sense: his oddness rarely feels intended to shut anyone out. He co-wrote *Paddington 2* with Simon Farnaby, who joined him again on *Wonka* (2023). By then, the risk was that his fondness for kind characters would leave too little room for difficult ones. *Wonka* is where we become less persuaded. Timothée Chalamet plays Willy Wonka with a ready smile, a pleasant singing voice and little suggestion that he might ever do anything cruel. We grew restless watching that smile return, because King gives us no reason to doubt the goodwill behind it. The performance is likeable, but the character has little that might surprise us. King and Farnaby answer the question of how Wonka came by his factory without making a convincing case that it needed answering. There is still plenty of care in *Wonka*: it is handsome, easy company, and Hugh Grant provides its most reliable laughs. We would welcome a little less reassurance from King, particularly when the character is Willy Wonka. Start with *The Mighty Boosh* for the stranger comedy, and approach *Wonka* expecting a genial family evening rather than much of Dahl's bite. ## Biography Paul King is an English screenwriter and director who works in television, film and theatre, specialising in comedy. He graduated with a first-class honours degree in English from St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1999. He directed all 20 episodes of the surreal comedy series *The Mighty Boosh* (2004–2007) and received a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best New Director in 2005. King directed and co-wrote the family films *Paddington* (2014) and *Paddington 2* (2017). Both earned British Academy Film Award nominations for Best British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay. He also directed episodes of *Space Force* (2020). In 2023 he directed and co-wrote the screenplay for *Wonka*, with story credit, a prequel exploring the early life of Willy Wonka. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com.* ## On Fi1m (6) ### Performed in (1) - *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace* (2004), Fi1m 83, as Techie — [page](https://film.one/tv/garth-marenghis-darkplace.md) ### Directed (4) — the average rests on these - *Wonka* (2023), Fi1m 68, Story, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/wonka.md) - *Paddington 2* (2017), Fi1m 91, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/paddington-2.md) - *Paddington* (2014), Fi1m 84, Screenplay, Screenstory, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/paddington.md) - *The Mighty Boosh* (2004), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mighty-boosh.md) ### Wrote (1) - *Paddington in Peru* (2024), Fi1m 64, Screenstory, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/paddington-in-peru.md) ## Complete filmography (19) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Paddington in Peru* (2024), Executive Producer, Screenstory — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/paddington-in-peru.md) - *Wonka* (2023), Screenplay, Story, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/wonka.md) - *Space Force* (2020), series, Director, Executive Producer - *Pele, Argentina and The Dictators* (2018), Producer - *Paddington 2* (2017), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/paddington-2.md) - *Miranda: Morecambe & Wise and Me* (2017), Director - *Little Britain Sketch* (2015), Director - *Paddington* (2014), Director, Screenplay, Screenstory — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/paddington.md) - *Behind the Scenes - Bunny and the Bull* (2011), Actor - *Bunny and the Bull* (2009), Writer, Director - *The Mighty Boosh Live: Future Sailors Tour* (2009), Director - *The Mighty Boosh Live* (2006), Director - *Man to Man with Dean Learner* (2006), series, Actor - *The Mighty Boosh* (2004), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-mighty-boosh.md) - *Garth Marenghi's Darkplace* (2004), series, as Techie · Assistant Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/garth-marenghis-darkplace.md) - *Wonka 2*, Writer - *Labubu*, Director, Producer, Writer - *Untitled Fred Astaire Biopic*, Director - *Prince Charming*, Director, Writer ## Gallery - ![Paul King](https://film.one/media/person/321/gallery-620a88d92470.jpg) Paul King — Beau's Toy Farm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Paul_King_at_BAFTA_Children%27s_Academy_Awards_2015.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Paul King](https://film.one/media/person/321/gallery-739f82cf4236.jpg) Paul King — Image via TMDB - ![Paul King](https://film.one/media/person/321/gallery-a6ba8bca3a72.jpg) Paul King — Image via TMDB - ![Paul King](https://film.one/media/person/321/gallery-292479494416.jpg) Paul King — Image via TMDB - ![Paul King](https://film.one/media/person/321/gallery-0002978b8fbf.jpg) Paul King — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/paul-king