Rugrats is getting revived once again, and this time, it's in live-action (kind of, anyway).
Paramount Pictures is officially developing a live-action Rugrats movie, Deadline first reported on Wednesday. But, as Variety added in a report shortly after, it'll be a CGI/live-action hybrid, with the actual babies (Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, and Phil and Lil DeVille) in CGI. Variety compares the approach to being similar to that of Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog movies, which has the video game characters animated within a real-world setting, surrounded by live-action actors.
Jason Moore, whose credits include comedies like Pitch Perfect, Sisters, and Shotgun Wedding, is on board to direct. Saturday Night Live star Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidell wrote the script.
We don't know too much else yet about the plot of the upcoming Rugrats movie yet, as Paramount hasn't released an official synopsis. Variety notes that it's unclear which other characters outside of the titular Rugrats will appear, although it's hard to imagine them without their parents, their older bully Angelica, or even their dog Spike.
Rugrats launched in 1991 on Nickelodeon, following a group of toddlers in their day-to-day lives and whatever adventures they managed to get into. It proved to be a massive success, finally ending in 2004 after 172 episodes and nine seasons. It spawned the spinoff series All Grown Up!, two standalone animated feature films and a crossover movie with The Wild Thornberries, and a bevy of other tie-in media across video games, comic books, and more.
If that weren't enough, Rugrats also got a 3D-animated reboot for Paramount+ in 2021, showing there's still clearly plenty of interest in the trouble-making babies. IGN gave the reboot's premiere a 6/10, with Kristy Puchko writing, "While the endearing aspects of mud pies and diaper humor remain in the Rugrats reboot on Paramount+, the series has lost its creative edge with this 3D animation update."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
