The wide-eyed, pointy-eared collectible that’s been taking over everyone’s bags over the last few years is officially headed to the big screen.
Sony Pictures and Pop Mart have confirmed a Labubu movie is in development, and a major filmmaker already attached to bring the story to life.
The project brings together one of the biggest collectible toy phenomena in years with one of Hollywood’s most reliable family-film directors, and we’re extremely curious about how things will develop from here.
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The Team Behind the Project
Paul King, the filmmaker behind Paddington, Paddington 2 and Wonka, is attached to direct the film and co-write the script alongside Tony winner Steven Levenson, best known for Dear Evan Hansen and tick, tick… BOOM!
Labubu creator Kasing Lung will also be serving as an executive producer, with Paul King producing alongside Michael Schaefer and Wenxin She.
The project was announced at the Paris stop of The Monsters’ global exhibition tour, celebrating the character’s 10th anniversary.
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What We Know So Far
The movie is described as a live-action and CGI hybrid, and it’s currently in early development, though no plot details or a release date have been announced just yet.
It’s based on Pop Mart’s The Monsters universe, the broader world of illustrated creatures which Labubu belongs to.
How Labubu Became a Global Phenomenon
Labubu started out as a picture book character created by Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong-born artist raised in the Netherlands, who drew inspiration from Nordic folklore.
The character launched as part of Lung’s illustrated Monsters Trilogy in 2015. Pop Mart then turned it into a blind-box collectible that exploded into a worldwide obsession.
Celebrities including Rihanna and LISA have been spotted with the toys, helping fuel Pop Mart’s rise to a company valued at nearly $40 billion, officially surpassing even Barbie-maker Mattel.
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Why Paul King Is the Perfect Fit
Paul King has built a career turning beloved characters into critical and commercial hits, with Wonka alone earning $635 million globally.
His two Paddington films combined have earned nearly $500 million worldwide, all while being embraced by critics for their warmth and charm, and earning nearly perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores.
That track record has fans—us included—cautiously optimistic that he can preserve Labubu’s odd, slightly unsettling charm while bringing it to a mainstream audience.
Thanks to his proven track record and Labubu’s fanbase, we think this toy-to-film adaptation has real promise.
