Remember that Warner Bros “Sesame Street” movie that “Portlandia” co-creator Jonathan Krisel was supposed to direct? It was going to star Anne Hathaway, and none other than Bo Burnham (“Eighth Grade”) had signed on to write original songs. Those plans have now been scrapped.
According to The InSneider, the “Sesame Street” movie has moved to Netflix, Krisel is no longer involved, and Hathaway is likely out. A writer will be hired in the coming months.
Back in February, before Warner Bros. lost the movie rights, the Daniels, Oscar winners for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” were in talks to direct — though there’s no word on whether they remain interested.
The Daniels making a “Sesame Street” film is not that unusual; it’s easy to see why they would be matched with this project. However, that version was set up at Warner Bros. and was bound to get a robust theatrical rollout, something Netflix probably wouldn’t allow.
“Sesame Street” premiered in November 1969 on PBS. The show then moved to HBO for a decade and is now firmly planted at Netflix. Only two ‘Sesame’ movies have been released: “Follow That Bird” (1985) and “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland” (1999). This would be the first one that uses the title of the TV series.
The Daniels are currently in pre-production on their next film, a Universal-backed sci-fi multiverse movie starring Matt Damon, Sandra Oh, and Charles Melton. They have no other project lined up after that. After all, it took them five years to finally shoot another film after EEAAO — that one has been set up with a November 2027 release date.
Here's a small scoop for Sunday night. Nothing too exciting, since it concerns the once-promising Ben Wheatley, a filmmaker who broke out with the cult-horror gut-punch of "Kill List" and "A Field in England.”