The film-makers behind the successful Paddington series are to embark on a feature film adaptation of another British family favourite, the Mr Men and Little Miss series of illustrated children’s books.

David Heyman, whose Heyday Films produced Paddington and Paddington 2 as well as the Harry Potter series, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and White Noise, is to join with the UK arm of French media company StudioCanal to make the film.

In a statement, Heyman said that the books “offer an irresistible opportunity for a bold and imaginative feature film adaptation”. According to WordsRated, in 2023 the series had sold 250m copies and was the fourth bestselling children’s book series of all time.

The Mr Men books were first published in 1971, written and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves and, after his death in 1988, the series was restarted in 2003 by his son Adam. The first Mr Men character was Mr Tickle, supposedly inspired by a question to Hargreaves by the infant Adam, though the exact nature of the original idea is disputed by fellow author John Malam, who says Hargreaves began doodling the characters at work.

Roger Hargreaves created 39 Mr Men, and then added the Little Miss characters to the series in 1981. The first screen adaptation was broadcast in 1974 on BBC1, with Dads Army’s Arthur Lowe providing the narration. A Little Miss series, featuring Pauline Collins, was first broadcast in 1983.

In 2004, character rights were sold to Chorion, which licensed a new series in 2008 that was successfully broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK and Cartoon Network in the US. In 2011, the brand was sold on to Hello Kitty owners Sanrio, which is also a partners in the proposed film adaptation, and which recently launched Mr Men Little Miss Mini Adventures as a series on YouTube.