Updated 31 July 2026
Every ThunderCats Movie
Two feature-length ThunderCats films exist. Neither has been in print since videotape. Two more are in development and neither has a release date. Here is the whole record, including the dates the film databases get wrong.
- Released2 features
- TheatricalNone, ever
- In development2 projects
- Release dateNone set
Is there a ThunderCats movie?
Yes, two
Both are compilations of 1980s episodes rather than original films. Exodus (The Movie), 1985, and ThunderCats Ho! The Movie, 1986. Neither has ever been released on DVD, Blu-ray or any streaming service.
No, not in cinemas
In forty-one years ThunderCats has never opened theatrically anywhere. Both existing features went to television or straight to tape. Whichever project lands first will be the first.
Two more are coming, maybe
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation confirmed a feature on 22 June 2026. Adam Wingard’s project from 2021 may or may not still exist. Neither has a director attached in public, a cast, or a date.
The films that exist
Two features, both out of print
Every database that carries a ThunderCats movie is carrying one of these two, and most carry only one. Both were assembled from broadcast episodes, and both differ from those episodes in ways that are only visible on the tape.
Contains animation that exists nowhere else
ThunderCats: Exodus (The Movie)
- Year1985
- Runtime75 minutes
- FormatCompilation feature, VHS
- AvailabilityOut of print
The first four episodes cut together as a feature, issued on VHS in both the UK and the US. The tape carries an exclusive introduction with substantial unique animation that has never been released in any other form.
Built from 4 episodes, all covered in full in the 1985 episode guide.
Open the full Exodus page
ThunderCats Ho! Part I 
ThunderCats Ho! Part II 
ThunderCats Ho! Part III 
ThunderCats Ho! Part IV 
ThunderCats Ho! Part V The version on tape is missing scenes
ThunderCats Ho! The Movie
- Year1986
- Runtime91 minutes
- FormatTV movie, then UK VHS
- AvailabilityOut of print
The five-part Lynx-O, Bengali and Pumyra story, broadcast in the United States as a single two-hour television movie and later cut down for a UK videotape. The video version is shorter than the episodes, not longer.
Built from 5 episodes, all covered in full in the 1985 episode guide.
Open the full ThunderCats Ho! pageA correction
Why every site prints a different year
ThunderCats Ho! is variously dated 1985, 1986 and 1987. All three appear in reference works. None of them is a typo. They are dating three different events, and the film databases have never reconciled them.
| Date given | What actually happened then | Who prints it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 1986 | US syndicated television premiere, all five parts in one broadcast | Wikipedia, citing The Pantagraph, 27 September 1986 |
| 10 September 1986 | Air date recorded against the movie entry | TheTVDB |
| November 1987 | UK videotape release, The Video Collection | Letterboxd and the Video Collection archive disagree on 2 or 16 November |
| 1987 | Title year used by film databases, taken from the tape | Letterboxd, TMDB, JustWatch, Plex |
| 1985 | Listed as the release year, with no supporting source | IMDb |
The defensible position: it premiered as a syndicated television movie in the United States on 1 October 1986 and reached UK videotape in November 1987. Listings of 1985 are dating the wrong film, most likely Exodus.
One more correction worth making. ThunderCats Ho! is routinely called the season two opening arc. It is the 1986 five-parter that bridges seasons one and two. The arc that actually opens season two is Mumm-Ra Lives!, broadcast in 1987, which was also aired as a television movie but never issued on tape.
The films that were not made
Three attempts at a real ThunderCats film
In development The Warner Bros. animated feature 2026 Revealed as a title card inside a sizzle reel at Annecy on 22 June 2026. No director, no cast, no date, no confirmed visual approach. Warner Bros. has not said whether it is Adam Wingard’s film or a separate one. Open the full page 
Status unclear The Adam Wingard project 2021 Announced March 2021 with a script by Wingard and Simon Barrett. Widely called live-action, though the original reporting described a hybrid of CGI and traditional animation. Wingard has not commented publicly on it since March 2024. Open the full page 
Cancelled The Sopocy CGI feature 2007 Warner Bros. and Spring Creek announced a CG feature for summer 2010, written by Paul Sopocy with Jerry O’Flaherty directing. Never greenlit. The full 116 page screenplay, the concept art and the leaked test footage all survive here. Open the full page The question nobody has answered
Is the 2026 film the Wingard film?
Warner Bros. announced an animated ThunderCats feature and said nothing about the live-action project it announced five years earlier. Several outlets filled that silence. Here is who said what, and on what basis.
| Outlet | What they said | On what basis |
|---|---|---|
| io9 / Gizmodo22 Jun 2026 | Unclear whether this is Wingard’s version | Independently confirmed the title card was in the reel. Headline hedged to "possible". |
| The Playlist22 Jun 2026 | Unclear if it replaces, absorbs or runs alongside Wingard | Sourced the reel through a social post from the panel. |
| Dark Horizons22 Jun 2026 | No word if the Wingard film is still in play | Made no claim either way. |
| Cosmic Book News22 Jun 2026 | A replacement, because live-action revivals underperformed | The box-office reasoning is the writer’s own thesis. No studio source. |
| Coastal House Media23 Jun 2026 | A separate film, running alongside a still-active Wingard project | Unsourced, and also describes the Wingard film as live-action. |
| Wikipediacurrent | An animated film is in development at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation | Makes no claim about the relationship at all. |
The detail that undermines the consensus
The reasoning behind "it must be a different project" is that Warner Bros. announced an animated film while Wingard was making a live-action one. But the original 2021 reporting did not describe a live-action film. It described a hybrid of CGI and traditional animation, and Wingard has said he did not want a photoreal treatment. If his film was never live-action, the medium tells you nothing about whether these are the same project.
What can be said plainly: Warner Bros. has not commented, and Wingard has not mentioned ThunderCats in public since March 2024, which is more than two years of silence.
1985 to now
Forty-one years of nearly
- 1985
Exodus (The Movie)
The first four episodes are cut together and sold on videotape in the UK and the US, with an exclusive animated introduction made for the tape.
- 1986
ThunderCats Ho! The Movie
The five-part Thunderian rescue story airs in the United States as a two-hour television movie. A shorter cut reaches UK tape the following year.
- 1987
Mumm-Ra Lives!
The season two opening five-parter is also broadcast as a television movie. Unlike the other two it never received a home video release.
- 2007
Warner Bros. announces a CG feature
Variety reports a computer animated ThunderCats film aimed at summer 2010. Concept art surfaces in 2009 and test footage leaks in 2011. It is never greenlit.
- 2011
The Cartoon Network reboot
A darker retelling opens with an hour-long two-part premiere. Often described as a feature-length pilot, it is a double episode. Cancelled after 26 of a planned 52.
- 2020
ThunderCats Roar
A comedic reboot runs a single season. No special or feature-length episode was produced.
- 2021
Adam Wingard signs on
Deadline reports Wingard directing from a script with Simon Barrett. The described approach is a hybrid of CGI and traditional animation, not straight live-action.
- 2024
The last word from Wingard
In March he says he and Barrett are actively working on the script again and it is a top priority. He has not spoken about it publicly since.
- 2026
The Annecy title card
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation includes ThunderCats in a slate reel on 22 June. Still no director, cast, date or greenlight.
Where to watch
The series is easy. The films are not.
The two features
Not available anywhere
Neither compilation has been reissued since videotape. There is no DVD, no Blu-ray, no digital purchase and no streaming licence for either cut. The Warner Home Video DVD sets contain the individual episodes, not the feature edits.
The 1985 series
Widely available
Streaming on Hulu, including through the Disney+ bundle, and available to buy on Amazon Video and the Apple TV Store. Every episode that makes up both features has its own page in our episode guide.
Everything fans are asking
ThunderCats movie questions
Is there a ThunderCats movie?
Two feature-length ThunderCats films exist, and both are compilations of 1980s television episodes rather than original productions: Exodus (The Movie) from 1985 and ThunderCats Ho! The Movie from 1986. Neither has ever been released on DVD, Blu-ray or any streaming service. No original ThunderCats film has ever been produced.
Has ThunderCats ever been in cinemas?
No. In forty-one years the property has never had a theatrical release anywhere in the world. Both existing features went straight to television or videotape. If either project now in development reaches cinemas, it will be the first.
When is the new ThunderCats movie coming out?
There is no release date and no release window. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation confirmed a ThunderCats feature is in development on 22 June 2026, but no director, cast or date has been announced and the film has not been greenlit. Given the studio’s announced slate already runs to 2028, a release before 2029 would be surprising.
Is the 2026 animated movie the same as Adam Wingard’s film?
Nobody outside Warner Bros. knows. The studio has not clarified it and Wingard has not commented on ThunderCats since March 2024. Outlets that reported the announcement carefully all said the relationship was unclear. The two that stated an answer, in opposite directions, cited no source for it.
Who is directing the new ThunderCats movie?
No director has been announced for the Warner Bros. Pictures Animation feature. Adam Wingard remains attached to the separate project announced in 2021, though its current status is unconfirmed.
Is there a trailer for the ThunderCats movie?
No. Nothing has been filmed or animated for release. The Annecy reveal was a logo on a title card inside a studio slate reel, and that reel has not been made public.
Where can I watch ThunderCats Ho! The Movie?
You cannot watch the feature cut legally anywhere. It was released on UK videotape in 1987 and has never been reissued on DVD, Blu-ray or any streaming service. The five episodes it was built from are available: the 1985 series streams on Hulu, including through the Disney+ bundle, and can be bought on Amazon and Apple TV.
Why do different sites list different years for ThunderCats Ho!?
Because they are dating different events. American sources use the 1 October 1986 television broadcast, film databases use the November 1987 videotape because that was the only version sold as a discrete product, and IMDb lists 1985 with no source that supports it.