Warner Bros. Moving Forward With New Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry Movies

Variety reports that Warner Bros. is moving forward with a live-action/animation hybrid movie for Tom and Jerry, as well as an animated Scooby-Doo movie. Tim Story has been hired to direct Tom and Jerry, which will begin production in 2019. Meanwhile, Chris Columbus will be the creative producer on the new Scooby-Doo movie. Scooby-Doo is also in pre-production with an expected 2020 release date. That will be directed by Tny Cervone from a script by Kelly Fremon Craig, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott and Matt Lieberman.

Warner Animation Group (WAG) is trying to increase its animated productions after the success of The LEGO Movie. Allison Abbate will oversee the division and executives like Jesse Ehrman and president of production Courtenay Valenti have tried to get classic titles used for new projects. The studio is aware of the history of the characters and wants to give them as much attention as DC and Harry Potter. The company plans on working to make the animation and live-action teams work together on the hybrid films like Tom and Jerry, which hasn’t happened often in other studios.