There’s a wary sort of excitement as Coolabi Group and Tencent Video kick off production on an animated version of the Warriors books. The show is slated to arrive in 2028, with Madrid’s El Guiri Studios handling the animation.
A.K. Bradley — the showrunner behind What If? — is developing the adaptation, and Rodrigo Blaas, an Emmy winner, will direct. This will be the first official animated take on Erin Hunter’s series, which has sold north of 90 million copies worldwide.
Storywise, the plan follows the opening arc, The Prophecies Begin: feral clans carving out territory and arguing—sometimes violently—over belief in the Star Ancestors. Viewers will watch Rusty, a housekitten, as he becomes Firestar (i.e., outsider turned ThunderClan leader).
There was a live-action attempt by Alibaba Pictures that never made it; that chapter is closed. Now the animated route aims to pull in longtime readers while also giving newcomers a clear doorway into the world.
Animation loosens practical limits: it can show vast battles, eerie ancestral visions, and other surreal touches (e.g., dream sequences, exaggerated movement) without the strain of heavy CGI or stunt work. Fans will have to wait and hope the creators keep the book’s tone — wilder edges and all — rather than smoothing everything into something safe and familiar.