Captain Underpants Spinoff Dog Man Movie Announced by Universal and DreamWorks

One of the biggest children's franchises in recent years is officially headed to the big screen. On Monday, Universal and DreamWorks announced that their animated adaptation of Dog Man will arrive in theaters on Friday, January 31, 2025. The Dog Man film, which is based on Dav Pilkey's smash hit book series of the same name, was initially announced to be in the works back in late 2020. Dog Man, which is a spinoff of sorts from Pilkey's beloved Captain Underpants franchise, has spawned eleven books thus far and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The Dog Man film is set to be directed by Peter Hastings, an alum of Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and DreamWorks' recent The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants animated series. No cast details surrounding the Dog Man movie have been made public.

"I'm familiar with Captain Underpants from many years ago, when I looked at books with my son, and it just always had a fondness for..." Hastings told ComicBook.com in a 2020 interview. "And then it's finally ended up at Dreamworks, and I have worked with many people here, so they specifically asked me if I wanted to come and work on it. I just jumped at the chance because Captain Underpants is just so much fun. It's so well-loved."

What Is Dog Man About?

Dog Man is set in motion when a dog and a police officer are injured together on the job. A life-saving surgery thereafter changes the course of history when Dog Man is born. Half dog, half man, Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve — as long as he isn't distracted by squirrels — as he doggedly pursues his arch-nemesis: the feline supervillain Petey the Cat. But the rivalry between Dog Man and Petey is upended by the arrival of an adorable kitten clone of Petey, Lil Petey, who changes the game for both of them.

The narrative of Dog Man is created, in the Captain Underpants universe, by protagonists George Beard and Harold Hutchins. The Dog Man franchise has also launched a spinoff, Cat Kid Comic Club, which has spawned five books thus far.

"I was very considerate of the original book material when it came to making the show, but everything that I've done with the show is really based on either something that's in the books, or the spirit of the books," Hastings said elsewhere in our interview. "And so, certainly Dav Pilkey has always had this fondness for telling stories in an interesting way, in a different way. In turning the medium inside-out, and really expressing his creativity with the characters themselves. And then just with the way that he tells the story. So that was what I really land with when it came to expanding it. So it's this new part, but coming out of the original spirit of the books."

What do you think of the newest details surrounding the planned Dog Man movie? Will you be checking it out once it hits theaters? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, Dog Man will be released exclusively in theaters on January 31, 2025.