Scooby-Doo is still one of the most iconic animated franchises in animation history. This classic hit got its start in 1969 thanks to Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who created Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show introduced a team of youngsters made up of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, along with their Great Dane dog named Scooby-Doo. The team specialized in solving mysteries involving alleged supernatural creatures, yet they always ended up finding out that, hidden behind the monsters, ordinary people were the real villains of the story.

The enormous impact of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! led to further series, spin-offs, reboots, movies, video games, and comics, among many other media. Among the large number of Scooby-Doo movies, the two live-action films stand above the rest: Scooby-Doo: The Movie and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Both of them were directed by Raja Gosnell, written by James Gunn, and starred Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini.

The first, released in 2002, brought the actors together for the first time on-screen as Mystery Incorporated. This group reunites after two years to investigate a mystery on Spooky Island, a popular and terrifying tropical resort. The actors reprised their roles in 2004, this time hunting down an anonymous masked figure who is terrorizing the citizens of Coolsville, aided by some of the most horrific villains captured by Mystery Incorporated.

Almost 20 years have passed since Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed hit the big screen, and much has been said over the years about a Scooby-Doo 3 featuring the same cast. However, the movie is not going to happen — it has been canceled. These are the known facts about the film and the reasons behind its cancelation.

Updated November 6, 2023: Fans of Scooby-Doo will be thrilled to know this article has been recently updated by Robin Reynolds with new information and details surrounding the franchise, including the possibilities for its future.

What Was Planned for Scooby-Doo 3?

Mystery Incorporated Scooby-Doo
Warner Bros.

The movie that would wrap up the Scooby-Doo live-action trilogy would not only be written by James Gunn but also directed by him, something that had him truly excited. Had it gone through, it would have been his directorial debut. And even though this film never made it to the silver screen, it kept both Scooby-Doo fans and Gunn himself thrilled for years.

The filmmaker spent some time thinking about the film's storyline. Plot points were revealed in 2020 via Flickering Myth when a Twitter user asked Gunn what Scooby-Doo 3 was going to be about. The writer and director's answer was straightforward: "The Mystery Inc. gang are hired by a town in Scotland who complain they are being plagued by monsters, but we discover throughout the film the monsters are actually the victims. Scooby and Shaggy have to come to terms with their own prejudices and narrow belief systems". Naturally, this revelation left fans puzzled and lamenting the project's cancellation.

Why Was Scooby-Doo 3 Canceled?

Shaggy and Scooby from Scooby-Doo
Warner Bros.

When Scooby-Doo was released in 2002, it quickly became a box office success, being the 15th most successful film worldwide of 2002, with a total gross of $275.7 million. It also was the second biggest opening weekend for the month of June at the time, behind only Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Yet, movie critics were harsh on this production, slamming almost every aspect of it, from its plot to its jokes and script.

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Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, the 2004 film, faced even harsher criticism, plus an additional downside: it earned $181 million worldwide, significantly less than the first installment. That downward trend in box office was not a good sign for the franchise. Ultimately, the reception of this sequel was responsible for the cancellation of Scooby-Doo 3.

Is There Still Hope for Another Scooby-Doo Movie?

Velma, Daphne and Fred from Scooby-Doo
Warner Bros.

Despite the release of other live-action films in the Scooby-Doo franchise over the years, such as Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, Prinze Jr., Gellar, Lillard, and Cardellini never reprised their roles on the silver screen, saddening many fans who had hoped to see them again. However, that hope was rekindled again this year, as Lillard commented in an interview with Too Fab that he would love to work on an R-rated Scooby-Doo film with his former cast mates. Considering how important the opinion of fans on social networks is nowadays, he was sure that it could happen.

Prinze Jr., who is married to co-star, Gellar, told Distractify in 2021 that the couples' daughter "has watched Scooby-Doo and some of our other nostalgic films as a family, and it's always great to see my kids' reactions." Despite this information, he reacted to the comments about returning to the films by tweeting that he didn't think Warner Bros. would dare to release such a movie now. Later, Freddie Prince Jr. expressed regret about making Scooby-Doo and said he has no interest in returning for a third film.

James Gunn, on the other hand, who took over DC Studios in 2022, said that he thought it was possible, but he didn't have the time to work on it at the moment. Gunn's schedule is just too busy, and while Scooby-Doo has crossed paths with DC superheroes before and Warner Bros. owns both properties, it is unlikely that crossover will happen within Gunn's DCU.

The Future of Scooby-Doo

velma hbo max ratings
Warner Bros. Television

Multiple animated Scooby-Doo films were in the works from Warner Bros. per an article in Screen Rant, who reported that the film Scooby-Doo: The Haunted High Rise was canceled in December 2022. With Carolyn Gair, the storyboard artist noting that the Halloween-themed film was "supposed to feature The Hex Girls," a fictional band from the classic animated films Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire, as well as "new songs." This followed the news that a sequel to the 2020 animated film Scoob!, aptly titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, focused on the Christmas season, was canceled in August 2022, with the company citing cutbacks for tax purposes.

These issues with Scooby-Doo also extended to the animated adult television series Velma, which premiered in early 2023 and received very harsh negative reviews. The HBO series, which was released to their streaming platform Max, was called out by critics for moving away from the standard Scooby-Doo stories and into more adult content. The show, which focuses on Velma as its main character and how the team from the original series got together, has had a tough time. Despite all of this, the series has been renewed for Season 2, which is set to premiere sometime in 2024.

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In this era of reboots and remakes, it is only a matter of time before another attempt at a Scooby-Doo movie is made. Had it not been for the pandemic, Scoob! would have been a theatrical release. As for another live-action adaptation, that is more tricky. In 2002, adapting classic cartoons, or any television show, into a big feature film was still a big deal, following a trend that Batman kicked off in 1989.

Yet now, most television adaptations are made into prestige TV series. A prestige Scooby-Doo television show sounds wrong, but it would not be surprising to see Warner Bros. Discovery announce one for Max. However, don't hold out hope for a legacy sequel, as it would likely be a reboot with a new cast of actors stepping into the iconic roles.