Labubu movie: Pop Mart and Sony signal a bold franchise bet — what it means for toys, film and investors
The viral labubu dolls are moving off collectors’ shelves and onto the big screen: Pop Mart and Sony Pictures have announced a live-action and CGI hybrid film in early development, to be directed by Paul King with a screenplay developed alongside Steven Levenson. The announcement, made during a Paris exhibition celebrating the toys’ 10th anniversary, ties a consumer phenomenon that helped build Pop Mart into a near-$40 billion company to a strategic push into entertainment.
Labubu film strategy and development
The project brings together Pop Mart—maker of the blind-box Labubu toys—and Sony Pictures, with Paul King attached to direct and co-produce and Kasing Lung serving as executive producer. Steven Levenson, the stage and screen writer, will develop the screenplay with King. The film remains in early development with no release date set; the announcement was timed with a global exhibition tour marking the IP’s decade milestone.
This is a deliberate step by a toy manufacturer that has already expanded beyond retail: Pop Mart operates a theme park in Beijing and has cultivated celebrity visibility for its products. The company’s valuation and sales performance give the film stronger commercial footing—Pop Mart is described as worth nearly $40 billion, and the company’s “The Monsters” IP generated $700 million in half-year revenue, accounting for nearly half of its IP sales.
Deep analysis: commercial and cultural drivers
At the core of the move is a simple business logic: translate consumer attachment to characters into narrative content, then use that content to deepen engagement and monetise across formats. Labubu’s blind-box model—where buyers do not know which figure they will receive—created scarcity, collectibility and repeat purchasing. Turning those characters into cinematic protagonists aims to extend that lifecycle by creating emotional and narrative hooks that can feed back into merchandise, theme-park experiences and branded collaborations.
There are clear investor-facing motives as well. A successful film could shift market perception of Pop Mart from a toy retailer to an entertainment IP owner, broadening revenue channels and potentially justifying current valuations. The studio partnership reduces distribution risk for the company and signals an intent to build a consumable media franchise rather than a one-off licensing deal.
Creative choices matter. Pairing a director known for family-friendly, character-driven storytelling with a screenwriter experienced in musical drama suggests the film will emphasise personality and emotional through-lines rather than pure merchandising spectacle. At the same time, the hybrid live-action/CGI approach positions the project to appeal both to existing collectors and to mainstream moviegoers who may not be familiar with the toys.
Expert perspectives and regional impact
Two academic voices familiar with consumer and branding dynamics assess the strategic upside. Kim Dayoung, Marketing Lecturer at the National University of Singapore, notes that content and commerce are increasingly intertwined for younger consumers: “For Gen Z and Millennial consumers, content and commerce are closely intertwined – watching a story, connecting with a character, and then buying into that world is a seamless journey… The potential is very high. “
Kapil Tuli of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at the Singapore Management University highlights investor implications: “Labubu has a loyal and fanatic customer base, so a film could potentially be a significant growth opportunity for them, if the content is appealing. ” He also flagged the opportunity to ride a broader wave of momentum in regional animation and IP-driven entertainment.
On the production side, the creative team and producer lineup signal intent to treat the IP seriously in cinematic terms. Kasing Lung, the creator of the characters, is on board as executive producer; Paul King will direct and co-produce; Steven Levenson will collaborate on the script. Producing partners include established industry names overseeing the project for the studio, indicating a mainstream theatrical strategy rather than a limited licensing play.
Regionally, the film will test whether a character born in a niche, blind-box collectible market can scale into a global entertainment property. Pop Mart’s recent expansion into theme parks and cross-brand collaborations underscores that the company is already pursuing multiple avenues to keep the IP relevant and commercially productive.
The risks are straightforward: a misfired adaptation could dilute the toys’ cult appeal, while a successful film will raise stakes on sequel planning, merchandising strategy and cross-border distribution deals. The choice of tone, target audience and marketing cadence will drive whether the film becomes a growth catalyst or a high-profile experiment.
Will the Labubu cinematic debut convert collectors into franchise fans at scale and redefine how toy companies monetise character IP in the streaming era, or will it instead expose the limits of turning viral collectibility into repeatable storytelling? The answer will determine how aggressively Pop Mart pushes labubu beyond its toybox.
