AceShowbiz -

Colin Firth is no longer attached to "Paddington" movie as the voice the titular bear. "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 to Entertainment Weekly.

"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 went on.

Director Paul King said, "Colin Firth has been a joy to collaborate with and I cannot thank him enough for his contribution to Paddington. 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. So, with somewhat heavy hearts we decided to part ways. We are excited about the next chapter for Paddington, ensuring his big-screen debut is magnificent."

Coming from 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 open on Christmas Day, December 25 in North America. A trailer was already released last week, but there was no dialogue scene for the bear. No replacement is announced, but the remaining cast stays. They include 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".