Roald Dahl’s ‘The Twits’ Movie To Debut on Netflix in 2025: Everything We Know

Netflix is working on a slew of Roald Dahl adaptations courtesy of its big catalog acquisition, with one of the earliest titles put into development announced being an adaptation of The Twits. Officially unveiled in late 2023, we’ve had several updates about the upcoming movie, so here’s everything we know about The Twits coming to Netflix in 2025. 

Across 19 novels, 13 collections of books, plus a handful of poems and scripts, Roald Dahl is one of the most prolific authors of all time. The 11th novel published by Dahl in 1980 came in the form of The Twits.

The story of the book revolves around Mr. and Mrs. Twit, two grotesque and mean-spirited people who live in a dilapidated and neglected house, and although a couple, both despise each other. After capturing a family of birds, the couple may be facing a comeuppance for their dastardly behavior.

Let’s now dig into everything known about the upcoming Netflix movie:

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First Looks and Synopsis for The Twits on Netflix

The first time we got our first glimpse of The Twits back in mid-September 2023 when we got the following first-look image:

Netflix also provided us with the official synopsis for the movie:

“Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the meanest, smelliest, nastiest people in the world who also happen to own and operate the most disgusting, most dangerous, most idiotic amusement park in the world, Twitlandia. But when the Twits rise to power in their town, two brave orphans and a family of magical animals are forced to become as tricky as the Twits in order to save the city. A hysterically funny, wild ride of a film (chock-full of the Twits’ beloved tricks–from the Wormy Spaghetti to the Dreaded Shrinks), The Twits is also a story for our times, about the never-ending battle between cruelty and empathy.”

The next first look for The Twits will debut at the Next on Netflix Animation presentation ahead of the Annecy Film Festival in mid-June 2024. Ahead of Annecy, Netflix unveiled several additional new first looks (one of which is the first image of this article) and some short clips courtesy of a sizzle trailer:

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Who’s behind The Twits Movie on Netflix?

In July 2021, we first reported that Phil Johnston (best known for working on Wreck-it Ralph and Zootopia for Disney) had boarded the project and was being developed into an animated limited series.

We also reported that Johnston would serve as an executive producer, as would Maggie Malone, who moved to Netflix in August 2020 after previously working at the Walt Disney Company and Illumination Entertainment.

Phil Johnson said in a statement about working on the film:

“I’ve always been attracted to reprehensible characters. I don’t know what this says about me, and I really don’t want to look into it. Point is, The Twits was my favorite book when I was a kid. I love the Twits and their terrible tricks. I love that they lack self-awareness and personal hygiene and any inkling of human decency. And I love this movie because it reminds us that twits like the Twits, whose default emotions are anger and vengeance, can’t be allowed to win in our world.”

Katie Shanahan (Centaurworld) and Todd Demong (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) are co-directing the project alongside Johnston. Daisy West is a co-producer of the movie.

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Who’s going to be in the voice cast for The Twits?

So far, four actors/actresses have been confirmed to be lending their voices for the upcoming movie. These include:

• Natalie Portman (Black Swan, V for Vendetta)
• Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Me Before You)
• Johnny Vegas (Benidorm, Ideal)
• Margo Martindale (Justified, The Americans)

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What studios are working on The Twits for Netflix?

Netflix’s internal animation studio is the primary team working on the project.

Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in Brixton and Sheffield in the United Kingdom and one in Mumbai, India, is also animating on the project alongside Netflix’s internal teams. They’re also the studio announced in 2022 to be working on a new animated title for Netflix exclusively called Wereworld (now called Wolf King), an adaptation of Curtis Jobling’s popular book series.

The studio has also worked on How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming and Spirit: Untamed. On the TV side, they’ve worked on Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed and Floogals.

Their website doesn’t officially connect them to The Twits, rather they state they’re working on “a feature adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s most beloved children’s books for Netflix-Features.”

However, numerous social media and LinkedIn employees confirm they’re attached to The Twits.

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The Twits was Originally a Netflix Limited Series

It’s worth reviewing The Twits timeline so far, as it’s been in development for several years and appears to have undergone several changes.

Let’s first rewind to November 2018. That’s when we first learned that Netflix would be teaming up with The Roald Dahl Story Company on a new adaptation of the classic works. The Twits was listed among the titles “in the agreement between Netflix and the Roald Dahl Story Company.”

It was then in April 2022 that the project was mentioned again, not for a good reason, however. The Wrap did a big profile on changes at Netflix Animation, including axed projects and executives being fired. This came in the wake of the so-called big Netflix correction.

The Twits was specifically mentioned when talking about canceled projects:

“… several high-profile animated projects in the Kids & Family space have been outright canceled, including “Bone” (which Netflix confirmed), an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The Twits” that was meant to be part of several Dahl-based projects (Netflix insists “The Twits” is still alive, potentially now as a feature film) and Lauren Faust’s witchy “Toil and Trouble.”

Now, over a year later, we can report that the project did remain alive as a feature film, with most people working on it from August 2021 through June this year (and some still list themselves as working on the title as of right now).

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Check out our full guide to look at all the Roald Dahl projects coming soon to Netflix.

Want to see the other animated movies Netflix has in the works? We’ve got you covered with a full preview of what’s coming up in 2023, 2024 and beyond.