Bo Burnham is on his way to Sesame Street.
The “Eighth Grade” director is set to contribute songs to a Warner Bros. live-action adaptation of the popular children’s show, which will hit theaters Jan. 15, 2021. “Portlandia” director and co-creator Jonathan Krisel is helming the musical, co-financed by Warner Bros. and MGM.
Also attached to the film is star Anne Hathaway and producers Shawn Levy and Michael Aguilar. Additionally, Mike Rosolio and Chris Galletta have written drafts for the pic with Jesse Ehrman shepherding the project for Warner Bros. Sesame Workshop, which holds the rights to the show, will also be involved in the development of the movie.
The story follows the Sesame Street characters after they are mysteriously expelled from their own neighborhood, forcing them to collaborate with history show host Sally Hawthorne to prove that Sesame Street actually exists. The educational series first premiered in 1969 with a combination of live-action puppetry and animation. “Sesame Street” is also home to the Jim Henson creations Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and Elmo.
The TV series is produced by Sesame Workshop, known as the Children’s Television Workshop until 2000, and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett.
Burnham won three awards earlier this year for “Eighth Grade” — the Spirit Award for best first screenplay, the Writers Guild Award for original screenplay and the Directors Guild Award for first-time feature directing. He credited Elsie Fisher for all the victories, citing her portrayal of an awkward teen dealing with the final week of eighth grade.
Burnham also portrayed a stand-up comic in the 2017 comedy-drama “The Big Sick,” which won the same Spirit Award for best first screenplay in 2018, before joining Alison Brie and Connie Britton in Carey Mulligan’s upcoming thriller “Promising Young Woman.”
Burnham is repped by UTA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman. The news was first reported by Deadline.
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