Anne Hathaway’s Sesame Street movie moves to a summer 2021 release date. Though Sesame Street has been airing since 1969, it’s hard to believe that to date, there have only been two big screen adaptations of the celebrated children’s series.

Neither 1985’s Follow That Bird, nor 1999’s The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland were especially big hits, yet despite this, Sesame Street continues to remain one of, if not the most influential educational children’s program on television. Countless numbers of people have grown up with the likes of Big Bird and The Count, not to mention the vast array of the iconic show’s characters that are instantly recognizable to young and old. With so much love for Sesame Street, it was clearly time to take another swing at adapting the series into a feature film - a task that Oscar-winning actress Hathaway is onboard for.

Related: Elmo Brings Respect to Westeros in Game of Thrones & Sesame Street Crossover 

For a few months now, we’ve known that Warner Bros’ Sesame Street movie was slated for a January 2021 release. But, as is often the case with film release dates, that's changed. Now, thanks to The Wrap, we know that the Sesame Street movie has been pushed back to the summer of 2021, with a confirmed release date of June 4. This isn’t the first time that the upcoming film has encountered delays, either - Sesame Street’s previous shooting schedule was bumped back from July 2019 to April 2020 just last month.

Sesame Street movie in the works

Hathaway is just one of what looks to be a promising collection of creatives tasked with bringing the beloved TV series to the big screen. Also onboard as of this writing are 10-time Emmy nominated director Jonathan Krisel (Baskets, Portlandia), as well as filmmaker/comedian/musician Bo Burnham, who'll be composing some of the film’s original songs. It’s still early days for this production, but plot-wise we currently know that it follows the Sesame Street crew as they're evicted from their familiar neighborhood and head to the hustle and bustle of New York City. Once there, they befriend TV host Sally Hawthorne (Hathaway), who's determined to prove to the public that Sesame Street really exists, and that its inhabitants have been unfairly evicted.

Fans of Sesame Street who'd been anticipating a January 2021 release may be let down that they’ll now have to wait until the summer to see the film, but in the long run, a summer release date puts the film in a far better place. The post-Christmas period is typically a rather slow time for film releases, and while the summer can be filled with heavy competition, it’s still more likely to produce better box office numbers for the Sesame Street movie.

Next: 15 Dark Secrets About The Muppets

Source: The Wrap