As audiences continue to reel from the decision, Scoob! 2 writer Paul Dini is speaking out on the movie’s shocking cancellation by Warner Bros. The first film acted as a reboot of the theatrical Scooby-Doo movie series, which had previously been launched with the live-action outings penned by James Gunn, and was intended to launch an interconnected Hanna-Barbera universe. Scoob! told the origins of the titular canine and his friend Shaggy as well as the Mystery Incorporated as they investigate a mystery tied to Scooby-Doo’s secret legacy.
Frank Welker and Will Forte led the cast of Scoob! as Scooby and Shaggy alongside Gina Rodriguez as Velma, Zac Efron as Fred, Amanda Seyfried as Daphne, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong and Tracy Morgan. Helmed by WB animated vet Tony Cervone in his feature debut, the animated reboot scored largely mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, who questioned the film’s attempt at a modern story, lackluster screenplay and divisive recasting of Matthew Lillard as Shaggy in favor of Forte. Released in theaters during the height of the pandemic, Scoob! was a box office flop, only grossing $27 million against its $90 million production budget, but with its popularity on VOD and HBO Max, it earned a sequel order from Warner Bros. that was recently cancelled.
On the heels of the headline-making decision, Paul Dini took to Twitter to address Scoob! 2‘s shocking cancellation by Warner Bros. The co-writer revealed that the movie was “95 percent finished” and criticized the studio’s decision to lose out on holiday family audiences potentially making it a box office hit. See what Dini said below:
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Scoob! 2 A Holiday Haunt was described as having been a prequel to the 2020 film as it would follow Mystery Incorporated in their youth, around the time of the start of the first film’s plot. WB cancelled the animated sequel alongside the DC Extended Universe film Batgirl, with reports indicating it stemmed from new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav looking to cut much of the studio’s costs, including shifting away from HBO Max releases in favor of theatrical ones. Though not much has been said about Scoob! 2‘s cancellation, audiences have expressed their frustration in Batgirl‘s cancellation and have taken to campaigning for the studio to release it, given it too was nearly complete.
It’s interesting to learn from Dini that not only was Scoob! 2 practically finished, but that it had also scored well in test screenings. Though the first film tanked at the box office and wasn’t very well-received, the fact that screenings were performing well and the original performed well on VOD, it is surprising that the studio didn’t elect to move forward with the animated sequel, though with fellow WB animated film League of Super-Pets currently underperforming at the box office, it may be understandable to some the film got the axe. Until news comes of the next Scooby-Doo movie reboot, they can revisit 2020’s Scoob! streaming on HBO Max now.
