Scooby-Doo film to launch Hanna-Barbera universe
AS A THIRD attempt at turning daft doggy Scooby-Doo and his mystery-solving chums into a theatrical success, September 2018’s “S.C.O.O.B.” will also form the basis of a cinematic universe of Hanna-Barbera cartoon adaptations.
Unveiling studio plans at CinemaCon 2016 in Las Vegas, Warner Bros teased a fuller, more connected HannaBarbera experience during a presentation that included looks at the likes of “Wonder Woman,” “Suicide Squad,” “The LEGO Batman Movie” and Harry Potter prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
In development since at least 2013, “S.C.O.O.B.” comes as a reboot after live-action outings “Scooby-Doo” (2002) and “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” (2004).
Though “Scooby-Doo 2” made US$180 million worldwide on an $80 million production budget, it flopped in comparison to the previous film’s US$275 million; Warner Bros evidently took the hint and shelved the franchise for over a decade and counting.
But just as Scooby-Doo and his quartet of teenage sleuths would persevere until successful, Warner Bros is returning to the show’s characters, and now with more ambition than before.
During Warner’s Apr 12 presentation, “S.C.O.O.B.” was described not as a reboot, nor even a big summer film, but as “our first shot at unlocking the entire Hanna Barbera universe,” according to director Tony Cervone.
Well acquainted with “ScoobyDoo,” Cervone’s been involved with Hanna-Barbera properties since the early 1990s, and in the time since has been nominated for two Daytime Emmys, and an Annie Award — the latter as an animation director on topgrossing basketball film “Space Jam.”
Meanwhile, there’s good reason to suspect that Cervone would be working from a killer script: Randall Green was attached to the project even before two of his treatments landed on 2014’s Black List — an annual rundown of Hollywood’s hottest unproduced screenplays.
Precious little else is known about the movie nor of Warner Bros’ plans to leverage its storied TV animation subsidiary, but the studio has a host of memorable cartoon characters at its disposal: “Yogi Bear,” “Jonny Quest,” the “GoBots,” “Atom Ant,” “Top Cat,” “The Jetsons” and “Sealab 2020” have all been subject to WB reissues over the last halfdozen years. — Relaxnews