Netflix Developing Sesame Street Feature Film With Rideback

Netflix is developing a new Sesame Street feature film with Sesame Workshop and Rideback — the franchise’s first theatrical-scale movie since 1999 — as part of an expanded preschool partnership announced this week, Blex Media and Indian Broadcasting World reported.

Rideback, the production company run by Netflix film chairman Dan Lin, is attached alongside Sesame Workshop. No plot, cast, or release date has been disclosed. If the project proceeds, it would be the first Sesame Street feature since 1999’s The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, which followed 1985’s Follow That Bird, Blex Media noted — more than a quarter-century since the Muppets last anchored a full-length film.

The film sits inside a broader series extension: Netflix and Sesame Workshop will continue the flagship show through Season 62. Season 57’s fourth volume premieres Nov. 23, with Volumes 5 and 6 due in 2027, both outlets said. The CGI spinoff Mecha Builders is scheduled to arrive on the service Oct. 26.

Thursday’s kids slate also highlighted a new Gabby’s Dollhouse spinoff, a Puppy Pirates series, and fresh Netflix Playground games. Kids and family titles accounted for 15% of Netflix’s total viewership in the first half of 2026, according to the streamer’s announcement as summarized by Blex Media — a figure that helps explain why the company is deepening preschool IP rather than treating it as niche filler.

Indian Broadcasting World framed the move as a global content push, with Netflix positioning Sesame Street for worldwide audiences while locking long-term episodic supply. For a studio slate that already mixes theatrical events and day-and-date streaming, a Sesame feature offers evergreen international appeal and a bridge between classroom literacy branding and living-room binge habits.

For readers tracking Hollywood production on Studio, the announcement is less about nostalgia than pipeline strategy. Preschool franchises deliver multiyear season commitments, merchandise adjacency, and lower relative marketing risk than adult tentpoles — and a first feature in 27 years gives Sesame a premium event to market across Netflix’s kids hub.

Verified facts as of Sept. 25–26 reports: Netflix developing Sesame Street film with Sesame Workshop and Rideback; no plot/cast/date yet; first feature since Elmo in Grouchland (1999); series deal extended through Season 62; Season 57 Volume 4 on Nov. 23; Volumes 5–6 in 2027; Mecha Builders Oct. 26; kids/family at 15% of H1 2026 Netflix viewership. Whether the film lands as a Netflix exclusive or a limited theatrical window will shape how the studio packages the next generation of Sesame Street.