I guess if they're revisiting the concept from the ground up, sure.
That concept artwork makes it pretty clear why it was originally scrapped to begin with.
With B.O.O. being suddenly announced for release after being dormant all this time (not back in production for retooling or being remade by a new crew, it's simply being released at all); I get the impression that this film was completed but not published. So DWA may simply be throwing the film out there as is.
It does make one wonder what prompted management to decide the film was worth releasing now, instead of keeping it buried (or going the WB-D route of using it as a tax write-off). As far as animated films go, DWA has at least three movies scheduled for release this year (Orion and the Dark in February for Netflix, and then the theatrical releases of KFP4 in March and Chris Sanders' Wild Robot in September), and Universal still has Despicable Me 4 from sister studio Illumation in July. So it's not necessarily like they
need to pad out their film schedule like other studios may be looking to do (as a result of both COVID productions delays and the WGA/SAG strikes).
[Compare that to Disney where as far as their "core brands" go (the non-20CS stuff), they currently only have one Marvel film, one Pixar film, and a prequel to a live-action remake on their 2024 theatrical docket. Which is likely why they're giving Soul, Luca, and Turning Red (the Pixar films released direct-to-Disney+ in the US during the height of COVID)
special theatrical releases throughout this spring season.]
I vaguely remember hearing about this all those years ago. Interesting that it's coming back and I like the premise, but the main character designs are doing squat for me.
(Still holding out hope for Me and My Shadow.)
Co-signed. Still bummed MaMS was junked, felt like a knock-on effect of traditional animation being hosed out of Western theatrical animated features during the early 2010s.
If anything, it's wild that in the current age of stylized CG animation, we haven't seen a film with a similar premise announced for production.
