The world hasn’t seen a theatrical adaptation of one of Dr. Seuss’ stories since since the animated movie The Grinch put a new spin on the Christmas buzzkill in 2018, nearly 20 years since Jim Carrey played the role in live-action (and no, the comedic actor isn’t returning for a Grinch sequel). But we’re finally getting pretty close to Seuss getting big screen coverage again, as it was announced more than a decade ago that an animated The Cat in the Hat movie was in development. Now word’s come in that Bill Hader will be leading this project, but what really excites me is he’s being joined by What We Do in the Shadows’ Matt Berry.
Before I delve into why I’m jazzed about Berry’s inclusion, let’s go over who else will be in The Cat in the Hat’s cast. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has tapped Abbott Elementary’s Qunita Brunson, Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Xocithl Gomez and Girls5Eva’s Paula Pell to come aboard. Outside of Hader as The Cat (his second time playing the role, the first time being in a particularly memorable SNL sketch), none of the other actors’ characters have been identified yet. The movie is due out on March 6, 2026, and in this adaptation that’s directed and written by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, The Cat will cheer up two siblings who are struggling with having recently moved to a new town.
This will be the second time The Cat in the Hat has been adapted into a movie, the first being the Mike Myers-led live-action flick that was released in 2003 and critically panned. Obviously there’s no way to tell yet how well the animated The Cat in the Hat movie will be received, if at all, but for now, learning that Matt Berry will lend his vocal talents to the project is exciting. Berry’s best known for playing Laszlo Cravensworth in What We Do in the Shadows (which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription), and while he also has voice acting cred from projects like The Book of Boba Fett, Disenchantment, Krapopolis and two of the SpongeBob Squarepants movies, it’s specifically two elements from his performance on the FX series that I hope are included in The Cat in the Hat.
The first, and arguably most important element is Matt Berry’s hilarious way of pronouncing various words as Laszlo. To be clear, I’m not saying that whoever he’s playing in The Cat in the Hat should sound just like his vampire character, but as an amusing nod, it’d be great if he apply that same pronunciation gimmick into his new character’s dialogue delivery. Just the thought of him repeatedly going “CAA-AAT!” makes me more inclined to watch this movie in theaters rather than wait to stream it with my Max subscription.
Additionally, there’s a recurring plot element in What We Do in the Shadows where Laszlo has a witch skin hat that is clearly cursed, but he refuses to acknowledge this and considers it one of his prize possessions until is stolen by his arch-nemesis, Simon the Devious. While I don’t expect a cursed hat to factor into The Cat in the Hat’s plot, it might be fun if Matt Berry’s character throws in offhanded speculation about if Cat’s hat is cursed. It’s a fair question to ask considering all the shenanigans he and Thing 1 and Thing 2 pull off.
Regardless of whether or not these two things happen, I’m still pleased to learn Matt Berry will be part of The Cat in the Hat, and look forward to hearing how his character will sound whenever the movie drops its first trailer. Meanwhile, Berry will, of course, reprise Laszlo for the final season of What We Do in the Shadows, which is expected to premiere sometime on the 2024 TV schedule.
