Your Labubu is about to be a star — a movie star that is. Last month, Sony snagged the rights to bring the hugely popular kids accessory to the silver screen in a major way, and now, it has announced Paddington director Paul King will direct the upcoming Labubu feature.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, King will produce as well as direct, alongside Department M and Wenxin She. Plus, Sony is working directly with the Chinese retailer of Labubu, brand owner Pop Mart, on this movie adaptation. As far as someone to write it, the project is so early in its development that they’re still looking to lock in a writer, so more on that in the future.
Labubu is the name of the lead monster doll of the brand, who will undoubtedly be featured in the film. Other named characters, who will also most likely show up in a movie adaptation, include Zimomo, companion Mokoko, and boyfriend Tycoco.
Labubus have become a cultural phenomenon over the last few years. Pop Mart sold the accessory via “blind boxes,” which have contributed to both the popularity of the dolls as well as the demand for them, as fans keep buying to try to get their favorite from the blind box. Because of this crazy demand, the secondhand market has spiked intensely, where collectors will pay insane prices to get the dolls through pop up sales and reselling sites, as well as auctions.
But that’s only one piece of the puzzle that got us to a Labubu feature film. The other element that made the dolls blow up in the zeitgeist was the celebrity endorsement. Major stars, including superstar K-Pop group Blackpink member Lisa, have publicly used them as accessories in the last couple of years, which raised their profile on a major scale.
As for King, he’s perhaps best known for directing the first two Paddington movies, which earned him two BAFTA nominations. He also wrote the third film in the franchise, Paddington in Peru. The last project he directed was the Willy Wonka prequel Wonka starring Timothee Chalamet in the title role, but early in his career, he also previously directed all of the episodes of the beloved The Mighty Boosh series.
No word yet on when to expect the Labubu movie to hit theaters, but just know: the monsters are coming… and knowing King’s work on building Paddington into a beloved British icon, we might just love them, too.
Photo by Michael Simon/Getty Images for POP MART.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
