Netflix has won the feature film rights to Sesame Street following a competitive yearlong bidding war, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Rideback, the production company behind the billion-dollar live-action adaptations of Lilo and Stitch and Aladdin, will produce.
Three studios were initially in contention. Warner Bros., which had held the theatrical rights to Sesame Street for about a decade, bowed out early amid its ongoing acquisition uncertainty. Universal mounted the strongest challenge, with The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert of Everything Everywhere All at Once) and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller attached to its bid. Netflix ultimately prevailed.
Rideback's existing relationship with Sesame Workshop proved a decisive advantage. The production company, led by founders Jonathan Eirich and Michael Lofaso, had already been collaborating with Sesame Workshop on a separate animation project before securing the feature rights. Netflix, which acquired the television rights to Sesame Street in May 2025, now controls both the small and large screen futures of the franchise.
No filmmaker has been attached to direct. If the project moves forward, it will be the first theatrical Sesame Street film since The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in 1999. The original big-screen outing, Follow That Bird, was distributed by Warner Bros. in 1985.