Though the $90 million live-action “Batgirl” stole the limelight when it was abruptly cancelled in early post-production by Warner Bros. Discovery, it was hardly the only project at the time axed as a tax write-off by the studio.
The much closer-to-completion $40 million animated comedy prequel “Scoob: Holiday Haunt” was also given the chop by the studio on the same day. That project served as a follow-up to “Scoob!,” the 2020 animated film which was supposed to go theatrical and ended up premiering directly on HBO Max.
Despite the cancellation, those involved in the “Scoob!” prequel were paid to complete their work with the finished film now sitting in Warner Bros. Discovery vault. More recently it has been revealed that the film apparently has some company as a secondary and earlier along “Scooby Doo” animated project was also scrapped shortly after.
Speaking with JayBee & Milly YouTube channel a little while back (and found via Collider), filmmaker Carolyn Gair says that her feature “Scooby-Doo and the Haunted High Rise” – a film that brings back the series’ fan-favorite fictional band The Hex Girls – was also scrapped as a tax write-off.
Gair reveals that the project was deep in production with all the voice-over work finished and the animation process about to start when WBD chief David Zaslav cut the film.
The voice over work reportedly incorporated all three original Hex Girl voice actors with Jennifer Hale, Kimberly Brooks, and Jane Wiedlin returning for the film that will now likely not see the light of day.
She adds: “I don’t think they’re going to resuscitate this… My producer keeps saying he doesn’t think it’s going to come back to life. But, maybe, who knows? It was locked picture, all dialogue, songs were recorded, it was ready for animation.”
The talk comes as the franchise is in a strange place with the “Velma” series on HBO Max already in production on Season 2.
