The coronavirus outbreak continues to affect the releases of movies from the major Hollywood movie studios. Today, it was revealed that another big upcoming family movie release, Scoob, is bypassing its planned launch in traditional theaters. Instead, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the Scoob digital release has been moved up to its originally planned theatrical release date of May 15.
Scoob’s studio Warner Bros. will make the movie available as both a rental and a digital purchase. The rental fee for 48 hours of play will still be high at $19.99, but the purchase fee will just be $5 higher at $24.99. This is a slightly different business model than Universal did for the recently launched digital movie Trolls World Tour, which is only available as a $19.99 rental for now.
The reasoning behind the Scoob digital release is pretty clear: Most movie theaters will still not be open in the US or worldwide by May 15.
The movie is just the latest incarnation of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The CGI feature film Scoob will tell the origin story of how that goofy speaking dog Scooby-Doo met his lifelong friend Shaggy. It also takes place in the present, where Scooby, Shaggy and the rest of the Mystery Machine gang of Fred, Velma, and Daphne are solving a new mystery.
The movie will feature appearances by other Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters, including Dick Dastardly, Captain Caveman, Blue Falcon, and Dynomutt. The voice cast includes Will Forte as Shaggy, Gina Rodriguez as Velma, Zac Efron as Fred, and Amanda Seyfried as Daphne.
