The streaming giant already holds the TV rights, and now Rideback’s existing relationship with Sesame Workshop helped seal the film deal too.
Netflix has landed the feature film rights to Sesame Street, closing out a roughly year-long competition that ultimately came down to a head-to-head contest with Universal, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s reporting on the deal.
Production company Rideback, led by Jonathan Eirich and Michael Lofaso, will produce the film alongside Sesame Workshop, which will participate in a producer capacity.
For families with young children, the deal means Sesame Street now lives entirely under one roof on Netflix.
The streamer had already picked up the television rights to the series in May 2025, so this acquisition completes the picture, giving parents and kids a single destination for both the classic show and whatever theatrical adventure comes next.
How A Three-Way Race Became A Two-Company Bidding War
The path to this deal started in the fall, when Sesame Workshop brought on CAA to manage the sale of the feature rights.
Three major studios initially entered the running: Netflix, Universal, and Warner Bros. Warner Bros. had actually held the feature rights for close to a decade without ever producing a Sesame Street film, and the studio exited the competition early, caught up in its own acquisition turbulence involving moves first by Netflix and then by Paramount.
That left Netflix and Universal in direct competition, and Universal assembled a genuinely formidable creative team.
The Daniels, the filmmaking duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert behind Everything Everywhere All at Once, were attached to produce, as were Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Sources stressed that neither team was attached to direct, only to produce, but the combination still represented serious competition for any rival bidder.
Why Rideback’s Head Start Made The Difference
Netflix’s winning edge came from a relationship that predated the bidding war entirely. THR also reports that Rideback had already been working with Sesame Workshop on a separate animation project before the feature rights ever came to market.
That existing collaboration gave Eirich and Lofaso a familiarity with the brand’s values and creative priorities that newer suitors couldn’t easily replicate.
Sesame Workshop’s approval of Rideback’s approach to the material ultimately helped tip the scales in Netflix’s favor.
Rideback also brings a proven track record with beloved family properties. The production company is behind the live-action Lilo and Stitch and Aladdin films, both of which crossed the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, demonstrating an ability to handle high-profile source material at scale.
What Parents Should Know About The Film So Far
Details about the actual movie remain limited. No director is currently attached, and the story’s shape has not been publicly described.
What is confirmed is the production structure: Rideback producing, Sesame Workshop in a producer role, and Netflix financing and distributing. The Insneider newsletter first reported the acquisition before The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the full scope of the deal.
A new film would mark the franchise’s first big-screen outing since 1999. Sesame Street has had two previous theatrical releases: Follow That Bird in 1985, distributed by Warner Bros. and featuring human guest stars John Candy, Chevy Chase, and Dave Thomas alongside the show’s puppet cast, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland fourteen years later.
The film right competition covered by Just Jared underscores just how much appetite there is in Hollywood for a new chapter in the franchise’s theatrical history.
Netflix Is Committed To Sesame Street
Sesame Street has been a cornerstone of early childhood education since its debut in 1969, and the fact that it’s now being treated as a major franchise asset rather than a legacy property worth sitting on is genuinely meaningful. Warner Bros. held the feature rights for roughly a decade and never got a film made.
Netflix, by contrast, has already committed to the show’s television future and now has the film rights in the hands of a production company with both a proven track record and an established working relationship with Sesame Workshop.
The Workshop’s role as a producer, rather than simply a licensor, also suggests the educational values at the heart of the brand will have real influence throughout development. For parents already raising kids on Elmo and Cookie Monster, that’s worth paying attention to.
With no director attached and the deal only recently closed, a release date is likely still years away.
The immediate priority for Netflix and Rideback will be finding a filmmaker whose vision aligns with both the production company’s approach and Sesame Workshop’s educational mission.
Given the creative firepower Universal had assembled, expectations will be high.
What is clear is that after a decade of inaction under Warner Bros. and a year of competitive bidding, Sesame Street’s path to a new theatrical film finally has a real home, backed by a streamer already invested in the franchise’s long-term future on screen.
