Tom and Jerryare coming to the big screen.Tim Story, director of the 2005Fantastic Fourmovie, is in negotiations to helm a new take on the animated cat and mouse duo that will be a blend of live-action and CGI. This is viewed as part of a larger push to beef up the animation side of the studio’s production, which will also include a new animatedScooby-Doomovie, which has brought onHome Alonedirector Chris Columbus as a creative producer.
According to a new report,Tom and Jerrywill be the first of these new live-action/animated hybrid movies to enter production, which is slated to begin filming in 2019. The movie will feature a real-world setting, with CGI animated versions of the cat and mouse doing their usual thing. Interestingly, the report also notes that actors will not be cast to voice the duo and that they will be silent as they were typically depicted in the animated cartoons. It will rely, as a result, much more on physical comedy.
This comes after Tim Story recentlyfinished up his Shaft sequelfor Warner Bros., which apparently went over quite well. Story previously directed the first two live-actionFantastic Fourmovies, as well as the Kevin Hart and Ice Cube starringRide Alongmovies. Some of his other credits includeBarbershop,TaxandThink Like a Man Too.
Warner Bros. has quite a few moreHanna-Barbera moviesin development currently. A Wile E. Coyote movie is also being developed withThe LEGO Batman Moviedirector Chris McKay attached, in addition to new takes onThe Jetsons,The FlintstonesandWacky Racers.Scooby-Doois also on the docket and is expected to hit theaters in early 2020. Chris Columbus, who previously helmed the first twoHarry Pottermovies for the studio, won’t be directing, but during the course of developing the long-awaitedGremlins 3with the studio, his interest in the character came up and he was brought on board the creative team. Kelly Fremon Craig is currently rewriting the script, working from a previous draft by Jack Donaldson and Derek Elliott.
Much of this got moving onceThe LEGO Moviebecame a huge success for the studio. They then decided tobeef up their animation efforts. It also comes as part of their effort to become more franchise-focused, as most studios are right now. The report notes that they will give the Hanna-Barbera characters as much attention as theHarry Potterand DC Comics franchises, which is saying something.
Currently, there is no release date slated for theTom and Jerrymovie, but a 2020 release date would be likely, given that it’s expected to film in 2019. The characters were previously given the big screen treatment with 1993’s Tom and Jerry: The Movie, which was far from a hit, nor did it do particularly well with the critical community at the time. This news was first reported byVariety.
