Paul King, director of the global hit Paddington films and the Timothée Chalamet-led musical Wonka, is set to direct the Labubu film.
In November it was announced that Sony Pictures, fresh off the global success of KPop Demon Hunters, had acquired the screen rights to the Chinese plush toy sensation with a feature film already in early development.
King began his screen career as associate director on the British TV comedy Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, then directed all three seasons of The Mighty Boosh. His 2014 film Paddington and its even more acclaimed sequel Paddington 2, both of which he also co-wrote, earned almost US$500m globally.
Wonka, the origin story of Willy Wonka that King wrote and directed, was a major box office success, earning $635m at the global box office. King also co-wrote the screenplay and executive produced the third Paddington film, Paddington in Peru, and is attached to direct a Disney movie about the Cinderella character Prince Charming, with Chris Hemsworth in talks to star.
It’s still unclear if the Labubu film will be live-action or animated.
Labubus, designed by the European-based Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung and initially sold as part of a line of monster figurines by the company How2Work, first took off in south-east Asia in 2019, after they were marketed by Chinese retailer Pop Mart. The popularity of the dolls, which Lung says were inspired by Nordic fairytales after moving to the Netherlands from Hong Kong as a child, has been fueled by social media posts of live unboxings that showcase rare collections, as well as their adoption by prominent celebrities as fashion accessories.
Launches of new editions now sell out at Pop Mart within minutes; in the past year alone, Pop Mart’s profits reportedly rose by 350%. And limited edition versions of the dolls have gone for as high as six figures at auction, in a superheated secondary market.
The Labubu film is the latest in a run of films inspired by toys, inverting the traditional film-to-merchandise pipeline. The 2023 film Barbie, which made over $1bn at the global box office in 2023, launched a wave of toy-related IP ideas in Hollywood; at one point, Barbie maker Mattel was reported to have screen pitches for 45 of its products, including Hot Wheels, He-Man and Polly Pocket.
In November Sony and Mattel announced that they had partnered for a film based on the toy View-Master.
