WARRIOR CATS Animated Series in Development with MARVEL'S WHAT IF...? and STAR WARS: VISIONS Talent
The world of Warrior Cats is finally making the leap to animation, and the long-awaited adaptation has secured some impressive creative talent to help bring the beloved franchise to life.
It’s been announced that A.C. Bradley, known for her work on What If...? and Ms. Marvel, will serve as showrunner on the upcoming animated series.
Joining her is Emmy Award-winning director Rodrigo Blaas, whose credits include Star Wars: Visions and Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia.
Together, they’ll lead the first officially authorized animated adaptation of Erin Hunter’s massively popular fantasy book series.
The project has been greenlit by Coolabi Group and Tencent Video and will adapt Warrior Cats: The Prophecies Begin, the first arc in the long-running saga. This is great news for fan who have spent years hoping to see the adventures of the forest clans translated to the screen.
The books follow rival clans of feral cats as they battle for survival, territory, and honor in a richly developed fantasy world. Since launching, the series has become a global publishing powerhouse, selling more than 90 million copies worldwide and reaching readers in 38 languages.
This animated series arrives after an earlier attempt to bring the franchise to the screen fell apart. A feature film adaptation had previously been in development with Alibaba Pictures as a hybrid live-action and CGI production.
At one point, Harry Potter producer David Heyman was attached, but that version of the project has since been abandoned.
Production on the new series is already underway. Chinese animation company Original Force is serving as lead producer, while Blaas will direct through his Madrid-based El Guiri Studios. The series is currently targeting a 2028 debut on Tencent Video platforms across China and Southeast Asia.
Tencent Video executive Tina Ma shared her enthusiasm for the project, saying: “We’re excited to partner with Coolabi on Warrior Cats, a franchise that embodies the future of global storytelling.
“Together we’re bringing the beloved Warrior Cats world to new platforms and markets in a way that feels both familiar and fresh, creating an animated series designed to captivate existing fans and win new ones.”
The popularity of Warrior Cats extends far beyond the books. According to Coolabi, fan-created content based on the franchise generates more than 50 million YouTube views and nearly 3 billion TikTok views every month. The Warrior Cats experience on Roblox has also become a huge success, racking up more than 728 million plays.
The franchise has also expanded into merchandise with the recent launch of the first licensed Warrior Cats toy line through a partnership between Coolabi and Bonkers Toys in the United States.
Looking ahead, Coolabi Group’s Director of Consumer Products and TV Distribution, Allison Watkins, suggested the momentum is only growing. “We anticipate a whirlwind year ahead for the brand.”
After years of false starts and fan campaigns, Warrior Cats finally seems to have found the right path to the screen.