Simon Farnaby Eyes Labubu Film and Ghosts Movie After $1 Billion in Hits

Q: Why did a bizarre legal dispute force Simon Farnaby to abandon his signature cameo name in the blockbuster hit Wonka?

Because of legal rights complications tied to “Wonka,” Simon Farnaby could not use his usual cameo name, Barry, and had to rename the character Basil. Farnaby has said that in most of his projects he appears briefly as a comic background figure named Barry, turning it into a running in-joke across films such as “Paddington,” “Paddington 2” and later “Paddington in Peru.” But “Wonka” was different. According to Farnaby, the production ran into a rights issue that prevented that familiar name from being used for his security-guard cameo. The dispute appears to have been specific to the film’s legal and licensing framework rather than a creative decision. “Wonka” drew on Roald Dahl-related intellectual property under a different set of rights arrangements than the “Paddington” films, and Farnaby said those legal complications meant Barry was off-limits for that appearance. So the odd result was that his trademark cameo tradition was interrupted not because he wanted to change it, but because the lawyers effectively made him do so. In “Wonka,” Barry became Basil.

1 articles · Updated · Variety · Aug 7

Labubu is now a key focus for Simon Farnaby, who has joined Paul King on Sony’s early-stage movie adaptation while also reworking an abandoned Disney robot concept into a separate sci-fi film.
More projects are stacking up because Farnaby’s writing résumé spans the Paddington films, Wonka and Ghosts, works he says have collectively topped $1 billion at the box office and become major TV exports.
The Magic Faraway Tree, Farnaby’s $30 million-plus solo screenplay, has already scored in the U.K. and reaches U.S. theaters on Aug. 21, with sequels likely hinging on its American performance.
Ghosts remains active too: the original BBC series ended in 2023, but a movie spinoff shot earlier this year and is due in the U.K. in October, while the CBS remake has reached a sixth season.
Wonka 2, by contrast, is "delayed indefinitely," Farnaby said, though Paddington 4 is moving ahead and he and King expect to advise incoming writers Armando Iannucci and Simon Blackwell.