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Sesame Street: Directed by Jonathan Krisel. With Bo Burnham, Chance the Rapper, Levi Mynatt, Austin Schoenfeld. Big Bird and friends are expelled from Sesame Street, ending up in Manhattan.
- Jonathan Krisel
- Bo Burnham, Chance the Rapper, Levi Mynatt
- Comedy, Family, Musical
- Overview
- Development history
- Sources
An untitled Sesame Street movie has been in development since at least 2012. It would be the third feature film following Follow That Bird in 1985 and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland in 1999.
On June 19, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter announced that a new Sesame Street movie was in the works to be produced by 20th Century Fox. Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) was set to produce from a script by head Sesame Street writer Joey Mazzarino. The article also listed Michael Aguilar (Unaccompanied Minors), Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy, Saving Private Ryan) and Guymon Casady (Game of Thrones) as producers.
In April 2015, The Tracking Board reported that the film had moved to Warner Bros. with Levy now directing as well as producing. The move to another studio prompted a search for new screenwriters who would center the script around an adventure set in New York City.
One year later, Levy signed on to direct a remake of Starman, leaving the Sesame Street movie without a director. Since the time of the initial announcement, Mazzarino had also moved on from Sesame Workshop, leaving the project without a writer.
In November 2016, Levy, promoting the release of Arrival (with Amy Adams), noted that he was still developing a Sesame Street movie at Warner Bros. On November 15th, Deadline reported that screenwriters had been found in David Guion and Michael Handelman (who had worked together on The Ex, Dinner for Schmucks, and Night at the Museum 3), with Mark Gordon still attached to produce, as well as Jesse Ehrman (This Is Where I Leave You with Tina Fey and Jason Bateman).
In September 2018, Variety reported that Jonathan Krisel, director and co-creator of the show Portlandia, was attached to direct, with Levy still producing. The article also mentioned that the film is set to be a musical, and that there have been multiple scripts drafted; the first by Mike Rosolio with a later version by Chris Galletta.
reported in December 2018, that Anne Hathaway was being considered for the role of Sally in the film. In February of 2019, Hathaway's involvement was confirmed by Krisel — still attached to direct; mentioned also as the movie's writer now — in an article for The Hollywood Reporter. The article reiterated the project's intention as a musical and added that the plot would take inspiration from a line in the "Sesame Street Theme" — "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?" — "with characters getting lost in NYC and trying to find their way back to Sesame Street." Filming was expected to begin in late summer 2019.
1.The Hollywood Reporter "Sesame Street Movie in the Works from Fox" by Borys Kit, June 19, 2012
2.The Tracking Board "Warner Bros. Picks Up Sesame Street Movie From Fox With Shawn Levy Directing" April 15, 2015
3.The Hollywood Reporter "Starman Remake In the Works With Director Shawn Levy" by Borys Kit, April 1, 2016
4.Deadline "Can You Spell David Guion & Michael Handelman?" by Mike Fleming Jr, November 15, 2016
5.Variety "Sesame Street Movie Taps Portlandia Co-Creator Jonathan Krisel as Director" by Justin Kroll, September 28, 2018
6.Collider "Exclusive: Anne Hathaway Eyed to Star in WB’s Sesame Street Movie" by Jeff Sneider, December 4, 2018
Jan 24, 2022 · In February 2019, Jonathan Krisel confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Anne Hathaway would star. According to the "Sesame Street" feature's IMDb page, Hathaway will play Sally...
Anne Hathaway, who was approached about starring in the film last, has been confirmed to still be involved by writer and director Jonathan Krisel in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
- Kellen Beck
- kbeck@mashable.com
Feb 6, 2019 · “It’s going to be big,” promises Portlandia ‘s Jonathan Krisel, who’s been hired to write and direct a still-untitled Sesame Street feature in development at Warner Bros. (a project that...
Sep 28, 2018 · Warner Bros. has recruited Jonathan Krisel to direct its live-action Sesame Street movie adaptation. The much-beloved educational children's series Sesame Street debuted on PBS in 1969 and aired on the publication television provider for nearly fifty years, before it moved to HBO in 2016.
Sep 28, 2018 · Jonathan Krisel knows how to get to Sesame Street. Krisel, the co-creator of the IFC series Portlandia, will direct a Sesame Street movie for Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter has...
