Netflix is working on a live-action Scooby Doo series from the man behind You and Love, Simon
Here’s some news to get your “rooby rooby roo!”, “zoinks!” or maybe “jinkies!”: Netflix is reportedly working on a new live-action show featuring Scooby-Doo and all your other favorite Mystery Machine passengers (a phrase that excludes Scrappy-Doo). The show is currently in the “could come” category: Variety says it is currently nearing a deal between Netflix and Berlanti productions on a script-to-series commitment, but contracts have not yet been signed.
The show’s writers are Josh Appelbaum (Cowboy Bebop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) and Scott Rosenberg (Kangaroo Jack, Venom, Jumanji: the next level), and executive producers include Greg Berlanti (a producer and creator of numerous shows, including you And Titansplus director of Love, Simon.
Provided things aren’t ruined by some annoying kids, the show will be based on the beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoon and produced by Warner Bros. Television, which recently launched the Neil Gaiman drama. Dead boy detectives on the same streamer… which is also produced by Greg Berlanti.
What’s the story in the new Scooby-Doo show?
As my fellow Scots like to say, “we don’t have a scooby”. Plot details are currently being kept under wraps, though it’s probably a good bet that the hour-long drama will involve some sort of spooky event, a supernatural creature haunting the cast everywhere, and a big reveal where it turns out that the monster was actually one of the human characters. Scooby-Doo didn’t become one of the most famous and beloved cartoons in the world by tampering with its winning formula.
Live-action Scooby shows have been quite successful, especially in film form: as Variety notes, the 2002 Scooby Doo film starring Freddie Prinze Jr, Matthew Lillard, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linda Cardellini (pictured at top of article) earned more than $250 million, with Scooby-Doo: Monsters unleashed two years later, raking in more than $180 million. There have also been two live-action TV movies: Scooby Doo! The mystery begins in 2009, and a sequel in 2010.
However, not all Scooby shows have made it to the screen. Max tore it down Scoob! Holiday chase as part of the cost-cutting regimen, although Mindy Kaling is currently voicing the animated spin-off Velma for the same streamer. That has received terrible reviews, partly because of coordinated reviews, but also partly because the show’s attempts to reach a more mature viewership were seen by many critics as somewhat lacking. Despite the reviews, Velma currently holds the title of Max’s most watched animated show and is currently in its second season.