Netflix Wins “Sesame Street” Movie Rights!

Netflix won a bidding war for the feature film rights to Sesame Street, beating out Universal after Warner Bros. dropped out early.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rideback (behind Lilo & Stitch and Aladdin) will produce, leveraging an existing relationship with Sesame Workshop, which will also have a producer role. The race began about a year ago after Sesame Workshop signed with CAA. Warner Bros., which held the rights for nearly a decade without making a film, exited amid its acquisition drama.

Now that a new studio has been named, it will only be a matter of time before we find out whether this is the same, long in development, movie starring Anne Hathaway or something else entirely.

Bo Burnham Writing Songs for Sesame Street Movie!

Stand up comedian and film writer/director, Bo Burnham has been hired to write songs for the upcoming Sesame Street movie.

Burnham evolved from comedy musician to award winning film writer/ director with his debut feature Eighth Grade.

The Sesame Street movie follows Big Bird and his friends as they are mysteriously expelled from their neighborhood, and stuck in Manhattan. They team up with Sally Hawthorne (Anne Hathaway), a plucky history-show host who’s on a quest to save her program and prove that Sesame Street actually exists. Obstacles are created by the “evil” mayor, with reasons of his own for keeping Sesame Street hidden from the world.

Directed by Jonathan Krisel, the Sesame Street movie is expected to be released by Warner Bros. in 2021.

Stranger Things - Sesame Street Film Back on Track!

There have been rumours and tidbits of news floating around for years about a new Sesame Street feature film and looks like it's back on track again.

The latest Sesame film still doesn't yet have a title, but is being developed by Shawn Levy, one of the producers of the upcoming sci-fi film Arrival and Netflix's hit show Stranger Things!

In addition to producing, Levy is set to direct the film as well. He's directed family movies like the Night at the Museum trilogy, Cheaper by the Dozen, and the boxing robot flick, Real Steel. 

After previously being developed at Twentieth Century Fox, the film has now moved to Warner Bros.

Levy told Sceenrant:

“Sesame Street is at Warner Bros, and we are right now working on a treatment for what I think is going to be a really imnaginative and entertaining take on that beloved and decades old global brand. 

The trick there is to honor these characters that are beloved but in a movie that feels entertaining for the kids who we might bring to the movie but humorous on that second level for those parents who bring their kids. It’s early – we’re still at the treatment stage, but very bullish on that.”

Our last news about the project was in 2015 when Levy told The Tracking Board that the film "will be in the style of the more recent Muppets films."

Although a full creative team has not been announced according to Entertainment.ie,Mike Jones, who penned the English adaptations of The Wind Rises and The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and long-time Sesame Street writer Joey Mazzarino are working with Levy.

Fresh off the heels of the Sesame Street set makeover, is seems the upcoming movie is changing course as well. 

Den of Geek is reporting that the new Sesame Street movie "will be in the style of the more recent Muppets films."

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Sesame Street Movie To Be More Like The Muppets

News Simon Brew 4/15/2015 at 7:43AM

Shawn Levy is to direct the Sesame Street movie, which has now jumped to Warner Bros...

Just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was to star in a movie of Fraggle Rock, that's being developed by Jim Henson's daughter, Lisa.

It's not the only Henson-related project heading to the big screen either.

There's also the small matter of the Sesame Street film as well, that had been in the works at 20th Century Fox. As it turns out, the movie is still coming, but there's been a change or two.

Firstly, it's switched studios. Sesame Street is now a Warner Bros project, and it's said that it has "brought new ideas to the table regarding the direction of the film." The Tracking Board reports that the new film "will be in the style of the more recent Muppetsfilms" as a result.

Furthermore, Shawn Levy - who had been set to produce the movie when it was first set up back in 2012 - is now to direct as well. Levy has just completed the Night At The Museum trilogy, and is also linked with a new Tinker Bell movie.

Warner Bros now is on the search for a screenwriter to put the script for Sesame Street together, and then it should be full steam ahead. More as we hear it.

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That's welcome news. Sesame's first film, Follow that Bird was released by Warner Bros in 1985 and can be viewed by all ages. While 1999's Elmo in Grouchland, was aimed too young and after the great opening song, barely features any of the core Sesame characters. 

How do you feel about this more mature view of the Street?