PAUL KING – THE director of the Paddington and Wonka movies – will direct the upcoming Labubu move, based on the popular children’s toy.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news that the successful director had been tapped to helm the Sony Pictures movie. King has had considerable success with previous films. 

Paddington (2014) and Paddington 2 (2017), which followed the exploits of the eponymous bear, were commercial and critical successes, grossing almost $500 million worldwide.

King also had a box office smash in 2023 with the musical family film Wonka, which starred Timothée Chalamet.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Labubu movie is still in the very early stages of development, and the script hasn’t been written yet.

Labubu dolls are a popular line of toys / fashion accessories, created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung. In 2019, Lung entered into an exclusive partnership with Chinese toy company Pop Mart in 2019 to sell the toys.

The dolls skyrocketed in popularity around the world after celebrities began to be pictured with them.

The dolls typically sell for around €20, are released in limited quantities and sold in “blind boxes”, meaning buyers don’t know the exact model they will receive.

However, some items from the Monsters series on the Pop Mart website can be priced as high as €1,300 and the toys face a steep markup on the re-sale market. 

With reporting from Diarmuid Pepper