"Warrior Cats" Animated Series in Development

Bestselling author Erin Hunter's long-running children’s fantasy novels "Warrior Cats" is being developed into an animated series at Publishers Coolabi Group and Chinese online giant, Tencent Video.

Renowned animated showrunner A.C. Bradley (What..if?, Ms. Marvel) and Emmy award-winning director Rodrigo Blaas (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) are on board of the project.

"Warriors," also known as "Warrior Cats," is centered around battling clans of feral cats, which have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide.

The seriez will be the first authorized animated adaptation of "Warrior Cats" and will be based on the first series of books, "Warrior Cats: The Prophecies Begin".

An earlier Warrior Cats feature film project, set up with China’s Alibaba Pictures as a combination of live-action and CGI, and with Harry Potter producer David Heyman initially attached, has been abandoned.

The series has begun production, with Chinese group Original Force as lead producer and Blaas directing through his Madrid-based El Guiri Studios.

It is set to debut in 2028 on Tencent Video’s platforms across China and South East Asia.

“We’re excited to partner with Coolabi on Warrior Cats, a franchise that embodies the future of global storytelling,” said Tina Ma, Co President & COO of Tencent Video in a statement. “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.”

"Warrior Cats" is a true global phenomenon. In addition to the books, which have been translated into 38 languages, user-generated Warrior Cats content draws more than 50 million views on YouTube and nearly 3 billion views on TikTok per month, according to Coolabi.

The Warrior Cats game on Roblox has been played more than 728 million times.

Th3me series follows a retail tie-in between Coolabi and Bonkers Toys in the U.S. which has seen the rollout of the first licenced Warrior Cats toys.

“We anticipate a whirlwind year ahead for the brand,” noted Allison Watkins, Director of Consumer Products and TV Distribution at Coolabi Group.