The animated blockbuster “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir” is moving into live-action television for the first time, with See-Saw Films and Miraculous Corp co-producing the adaptation. Both production labels sit inside Mediawan, and Emme Hoy — a writer and co-EP on season two of See-Saw’s “Sweetpea” and a writer on the BBC’s upcoming “Honey” — is attached to adapt.
The producers are explicit about the target: a “broad and older audience,” while still serving fans who grew up with the original. That is a meaningful shift for a franchise that has spent most of its life in the kids and school-age lane.
From kids’ hit to cross-generational IP
Created by Thomas Astruc, Jeremy Zag and Nathanaël Bronn, the original series premiered on French television in 2015. It is currently in its sixth season, with season seven expected in late 2026, and is available on Disney Channel, Disney+, Netflix, Globo and TF1.
See-Saw executive producer Maria Nicholson described the live-action version as a chance to explore the emotional distance between the show’s central pair, with the “intimacy of a great romance” and the scale of a superhero story. That framing tells buyers exactly where the adaptation is aimed: older family and young-adult audiences, not a straight remount for younger children.
The numbers behind the screen
The IP already behaves like a digital media property, not just a TV series. Key figures from the announcement:
- 54 million YouTube subscribers
- More than 55 billion lifetime views
- 900 million average monthly views
- Distribution in more than 150 countries
The animated series also ranks number one among more than 850 school-age titles tracked globally by Parrot Analytics. For media planners, that combination of reach, frequency and fandom is rare: a built-in audience that can be activated across screens, product lines, gaming and live events.
Why See-Saw changes the deal
See-Saw brings premium-drama credibility. The company is behind Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” currently in season six with seasons seven and eight recommissioned, and is developing a live-action “The Neverending Story” film series. Pairing that track record with one of the most-watched animated franchises signals Mediawan is not making a low-cost extension; it is producing an event-level adaptation.
Worldwide sales are being handled by Mediawan Rights, so the next concrete signal for the business will be which global streamer or broadcaster takes the live-action series. Given that Disney+, Netflix, Globo and TF1 already carry the animation, the rights conversation has several natural bidders.
For rights holders and media planners, the takeaway is clear: long-running kids’ IP does not have to stay in one demographic. A live-action bridge can move an audience that has aged a decade into a new format without abandoning the digital flywheel that built the franchise.
Heath Kenny, chief content officer at Miraculous Corp, called the move a “defining next step” for a franchise that has already expanded into a 2023 spin-off movie, a stage musical, manga and a worldwide live stage show set for 2027.
Source: Variety
