Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie – Picture: SND
Netflix is back in business with Jeremy Zag’s Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, but what exactly is coming to Netflix?
Few stories come equipped with as many natural twists and turns as the relationship between Netflix and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug And Cat Noir, or Miraculous for short. Earlier this year, we reported that Miraculous Seasons 1-3 were scheduled to leave Netflix US in February and move to Disney+, where they had already been streaming in most countries ever since Disney acquired the exclusive rights to Seasons 4-5 and two made for TV specials. When that day came, Seasons 1-3 did head to Disney+, but they remained on Netflix as well. Our sources later informed us that the series license had been extended until July, albeit no longer on an exclusive basis.
We now know why Miraculous stuck around; Jeremy Zag can’t get enough of Netflix. Late last week, an Instagram story posted by musician and film producer Tyler John Thompson appeared, sporting the following caption: Working on a secret project today for @Netflix and @jeremyzag @miraculous.” Jeremy even reposted it to his own Instagram story.
Screenshot: ladyblognewss on Twitter
It makes sense Netflix would want to keep streaming Seasons 1-3 of the series if a new project is coming. Disney either did not acquire exclusive rights to Seasons 1-3 or chose to give up that privilege as one of their many recent cost-cutting measures which allowed Netflix to re-license them. For that reason, we would not be shocked if Seasons 4-5 eventually stream on Netflix.
What Could This Netflix Miraculous Project Be?
We should begin by saying we’ve reached out to Netflix on the future of the series and the mysterious project and they declined to comment.
Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie
For the past few years, a Miraculous Ladybug feature film has been in production.
It will finally premiere in movie theatres across Europe beginning July 5, 2023. As of now, there is no known US distributor or release plan. Earlier, we alluded to the many twists and turns in the relationship between Netflix and Miraculous. In August 2022 a toy display was photographed with badges that read: “In Theatres & Streaming Fall 2022” and “Netflix – A Netflix Film.” If it seems strange that Netflix would have the film rights shortly after Disney acquired the worldwide rights to the series, remember that it takes years to make an animated feature film. The film rights were likely sold to Netflix before Disney and Zag signed those deals in 2020 and 2021.
Source: @ashrose31 on Twitter
Some might argue that the movie is not a “secret” project, but you must remember that it’s never been officially disclosed that Netflix will distribute the film (if they will). A leaked toy display is not a press release, and things can always change until they can’t.
Netflix did list the movie within their “planning” Netflix Original movies document for the press for a number of weeks, but it has since been renewed.
Let’s say that this project is not the upcoming Miraculous movie. There are still plenty of options for franchise expansion ranging from a live-action series to Netflix-exclusive spin-off. However, there is one other previously announced Netflix project.
Action: The Miraculous Ladybug Plastic Special
In June 2023, a special 22-minute episode of Miraculous will release as part of a partnership between the Bretau Foundation and Netflix that seeks to educate on the harmful impact plastic has on the environment.
Originally announced in early 2022, the mentions of Netflix have been removed from more recent promotions. Perhaps Zag didn’t want that information out yet. If that’s the case, Tyler Thompson may be playing along and referring to the project as secret despite Miraculous superfans having known about it for years. Below is the original release brochure that refers to it as a “Netflix special episode.”
While we do not know what secret project Tyler and Jeremy were referring to, we expect to learn that Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie will be a Netflix Original in the US soon and is indeed the mysterious project.
