In 2002, the classic Hanna Barbera cartoon ‘Scooby-Doo’ was adapted to live action in a box office hit, scaring up $153 million.  The movie featured a hot cast with Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred, Linda Cardellini as Velma and a spot-on Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, plus an unknown Isla Fisher as Shaggy’s love interest Mary Jane.  Scooby himself was rendered in CGI and voiced by Neil Fanning.  The movie was a big enough hit to warrant a sequel, which unfortunately didn’t perform nearly as well (because it wasn’t nearly as good) and Warner Brothers switched gears and made future live action movies, with a new cast, direct-to-DVD.  (Black-haired Fred?!  BOOOOO!!!)  They also continued producing new animated movies also for the home video market and new cartoons on TV, since ‘Scooby’ is one of the longest-running and most beloved kids properties in the world; so much so that WB is planning to bring the cowardly canine and his sleuthing human buddies back to theaters.

Warner Bros. president of creative development, Ben Silverman announced:

“Like countless fans, I have always loved the Hanna-Barbera cast of characters.  As one of their most famous brand ambassadors, Scooby-Doo will take the lead in re-introducing this pantheon of enduringly popular animated stars on a grand scale with an exciting new movie.”

However the new movie won’t be live-action.  This will be a feature length animated film, which is nothing new as the crime solving cast has already starred in several of those.

WB is eyeing a September 2018 release for the new film.  Executive Dan Fellman added:

“As anticipation grows throughout production, the movie’s mid-September release date should start the fall season with a burst of fun.”

Fellow exec Veronika Kwan Vandenberg stated:

“Scooby-Doo and his friends have the kind of universal appeal that reaches across cultures as well as generations.  We expect this new take on the franchise to generate even more fans around the world.”

Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, who produced the live action movies are back in the same seat for this new movie, which is as yet unnamed, and will be joined by Allison Abbate (‘The Iron Giant’, ‘Corpse Bride’, ‘Frankenweenie’).  The movie will be written by Matt Lieberman and directed by Tom Cervone.

The 2002 ‘Scooby-Doo’ came during a glut of big screen adaptations of classic TV shows.  Some, like ‘The Brady Bunch’ and ‘Charlie’s Angels’ were big hits, only to have lackluster sequels that squashed any plans for additional movies… much like ‘Scooby-Doo’.

Before ‘Scooby’, another Hanna Barbera cartoon, ‘The Flintstones’ hit theaters in 1994, but was a critical and commercial flop.  Ditto 2010’s ‘Yogi Bear.’  Could Silverman’s comment that “Scooby-Doo will take the lead in re-introducing this pantheon” mean that WB is planning to bring more characters from its catalog to big screens?  Should they revisit ‘The Flintstones’ or ‘Yogi’?  Or try something new?  Will ‘Jonny Quest’ finally make the jump, after several failed attempts?  What properties would you like to see in animated movies?

Source: Movie Pilot