Draft:Sesame Street (film)

Sesame Street is an upcoming American musical comedy film directed by Jonathan Krisel and written by Chris Galletta, based on the children's educational television series of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Bo Burnham, and Chance the Rapper. It serves as a stand-alone sequel to The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999) and Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), the latter of which was also released by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Premise
Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends are mysteriously expelled from their neighborhood, finding themselves in Manhattan. They team up with a plucky history show host named Sally Hawthorne who’s on a quest to save her show and prove that Sesame Street actually exists, with obstacles created by the Mayor, with reasons of his own for keeping Sesame Street hidden from the world.

Muppet performers

 * Carmen Osbahr as Rosita and Ovejita
 * David Rudman as Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, and Two-Headed Monster (right head)
 * Eric Jacobson as Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Two-Headed Monster (left head)
 * Frankie Cordero as Rudy
 * Jennifer Barnhart as Zoe
 * Joey Mazzarino as Murray Monster and Stinky the Stinkweed
 * Leslie Carrara-Rudolph as Abby Cadabby
 * Martin P. Robinson as Snuffy, Telly Monster, The Martians, and Slimey
 * Matt Vogel as Big Bird and Count von Count
 * Peter Linz as Ernie and Herry Monster
 * Ryan Dillon as Elmo
 * Stacey Gordon as Julia

Humans of Sesame Street

 * Alan Muraoka as Alan
 * Chris Knowings as Chris
 * Suki Lopez as Nina
 * Violet Tinnirello as Charlie

Other humans

 * Anne Hathaway as Sally Hawthorne
 * Bo Burnham as Danny Johnson
 * Chance the Rapper as The Mayor's aide

Development
In June 2012, it was announced that a new Sesame Street movie was in the works at 20th Century Fox to be produced by Shawn Levy, Michael Aguilar, Mark Gordon, and Guymon Casady with a script by head Sesame Street writer Joey Mazzarino. In April 2015, it was announced that the film had moved to Warner Bros. Pictures with Levy directing. In April 2016, Levy left the directing position to focus on directing a remake of Starman.

In November 2016, it was announced that David Guion and Michael Handelman had been set to co-write the screenplay treatment for the film after Mazzarino left the project, with Levy of 21 Laps Entertainment, Aguilar, Casady and Daniel Rappaport of Entertainment 360 still attached to produce, alongside Sesame Workshop. In September 2018, Jonathan Krisel signed on to direct the film, with the screenplay by Chris Galletta and Mike Rosolio.

Casting
In December 2018, it was announced that Anne Hathaway was being considered for the role of Sally Hawthorne in the film, which was confirmed in February 2019. In March 2020, Chance the Rapper was added to the cast playing the Mayor's aide.

Filming
Filming was originally scheduled to begin in July 2019, but due to Hathaway finishing up on The Witches (which wrapped filming in September 2019), filming was delayed to April 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production was delayed indefinitely.

In January 2023, while promoting her film Eileen at the Sundance Film Festival, Hathaway spoke at length about her commitment to the project, despite the delays.

Music
In June 2019, it was reported that Bo Burnham would write original songs for the film.

Release
Sesame Street was initially scheduled to be released on January 15, 2021, but it was pushed back to June 4, 2021, and again to January 14, 2022. The film was then removed from the release calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2021, Shawn Levy revealed that there were discussions taking place about whether to have the film stay theatrical or release on HBO Max.