JJ Abrams To Produce New Dr. Seuss Movies For Warner Bros. In New "Seuss Universe"

As part of Star Wars and Star Trek director JJ Abrams' $250 million deal with Warner Bros., Abrams and his production company will produce a series of movies and TV projects for WB. We've now learned about more of these, as Abrams and Bad Robot have been tapped to produce a series of Dr. Seuss movies as part of a new "Seuss Universe."

According to Vanity Fair, Abrams and Bad Robot will produce the first-ever animated movie adaptation of Oh, the Places You'll Go! while he will also produce new animated versions of The Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two.

These movies are not connected to the earlier one-offs, including Horton Hears a Who!, The Lorax, and The Grinch. Dr. Seuss Enterprises president Susan Brandt told Vanity Fair that the new movies are meant to be the start of a new franchise.

"For the first time we're not just doing one film for one book. We're going to franchise-build beyond the initial story of these books and find out what happens next," Brandt said. "I call it stretching the fabric. How far can it go, to go a little bit deeper with our characters."

The Cat in the Hat movie is coming first. It's penciled in for release in 2024, with Erica Rivinoja (South Park, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) and Disney veteran Art Hernandez set to direct. The Thing One and Thing Two movie, which is a spin-off from The Cat in the Hat, will follow in 2026, with Oh, the Places You'll Go! scheduled for 2027.

There is no word yet on who will write or direct these, and there have been no casting announcements for any of these projects.

Brandt made it clear, however, that the characters from these movies will not meet in some kind of Avengers-style mashup. "The Cat in the Hat will not meet the boy in Oh, the Places You’ll Go, nor would the Things go visit the Lorax," Brandt said. "While it will all feel like part of the Seuss universe, they live in their worlds, and they're not necessarily going to interact in the same films."

Go to Vanity Fair to read the full story and hear directly from the creative people involved in the production of these films.

In addition to these movies, Netflix's Green Eggs & Ham series has been renewed for a second season, though an exact premiere date has not been announced yet.