Warner Bros Discovery readapting classic movies with more diverse shorts

[BluBonnet]

Warner Bros. Studios Celebrates 100th Anniversary With Diverse Shorts Recreating Warner Bros. Classics (Exclusive)

As part of its ongoing celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studios, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has commissioned short film adaptations of six classic movies from its vault.

These 20-minute shorts, which will be available to stream on Max later this year, will update the films through today’s more diverse and inclusive understanding of the world, with what WBD’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team calls “representative casting, storytelling and narrative.”

Six filmmakers have already been chosen by a committee that includes WBD senior vice president of DEI in North America Karen Horne alongside individuals from Warner Bros. Pictures, Visual Communications, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Urban World, Sundance Indigenous Lab, Outfest and ReelAbilities Film Fest. The filmmakers, who will receive a budget through which they can derive their own compensation, will begin production this summer and be mentored by a group of established producers and directors, including Greg Berlanti (The CW’s Arrowverse), Angel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle), Blitz Bazawale (The Color Purple), Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), Danis Goulet (Night Raiders) and James Lebrecht (Crip Camp). Ali Afshar (American Wrestler: The Wizard, Holiday Harmony, A Christmas Mystery) will serve as a consulting producer on all of the projects.