"Tom and Jerry" Headed for the Big Screen

[J_UNTITLED]

From Variety...

Warner Bros. is turning to Tom and Jerry to create its own "Alvin and the Chipmunks"-like family franchise.

Plans are to bring the constantly warring cat and mouse to life as CG characters that run around in live-action settings.

Studio-based Dan Lin, currently producing the upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" and exec producer on "Terminator: Salvation," will adapt the classic Hanna-Barbera property as an origin story that reveals how Tom and Jerry first meet and form their rivalry before getting lost in Chicago and reluctantly working together during an arduous journey home.

Eric Gravning is penning the script.

Scribe wrote "B-Minor," which has Ron Howard attached to helm at Universal; "Mr. Burnout," which is set up at Participant Prods.; as well as "Class Act" at Walden Media, with Halle Berry aboard to star.

Warners owns the rights to Hanna-Barbera’s slate of popular animated properties and has several of them in development for bigscreen adaptation.

Those include Robert Rodriguez’s version of "The Jetsons" and producer Donald De Line’s "Yogi Bear."

The live-action/animated combo has worked for Warners before.

The studio successfully turned "Scooby-Doo" into a live-action franchise with two films that earned a combined $457 million theatrically and a direct-to-DVD feature in the works. It cast the Looney Tunes characters opposite Michael Jordan in "Space Jam" long before that, and there was Joe Dante’s "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," starring Brendan Fraser, in 2003.

Interest in the new projects certainly ramped up after "Alvin and the Chipmunks" earned a whopping $360 million worldwide, besting even Fox’s predictions for the pic, which was budgeted at $60 million. A sequel was quickly greenlit, with the singing rodents skedded to hit the screen again in 2010.

Revenue potential from worldwide box office, DVD, games and merchandise sales, as well as the potential for sequels and earnings from TV and homevid spinoffs, is considered too good to pass up.

The built-in familiarity of the characters has studio bosses feeling they’re not taking the kind of risk associated with creating a new property marketing mavens must promote from scratch.

"Tom and Jerry" originated as a series of 114 animated shorts, produced by MGM’s toon studio between 1940 and 1960, and won seven Academy Awards. New toons were produced after that, and Warner Bros. released "Tom and Jerry: The Movie" in 1992 as a feature-length toon.

Lin will produce "Tom and Jerry" through his Lin Pictures, while Jon Silk will co-produce.

Lin is also producing Cameron Diaz starrer "The Box" and Ricky Gervais starrer "This Side of Truth," and he’s exec producer on Rodriguez’s "Shorts."

[Afrobean]

This is a terrible idea. These characters played true to form cannot carry a full-length movie well and their antics are too violent and senseless. Neither of them even talk.

I guess they'll be changing the characters a lot to get it to work. Hopefully they play it well enough that the movie works despite the characters being entirely different from their original selfs.

Wow... I just realized that these are going to be animated to be photo realistic. Can you imagine what that would look like? They might be able to do something SOMEWHAT reasonable for Tom, but I really don't think Jerry will look anything but silly.

[kolasi]

im anxious too se it. always been one of my favorite cartoons.

[McKellars]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

This is a terrible idea.

I agree, this will not be good.

[BirdManJr]

Tom and Jerry isnt really a fresh new idea.

But they did make a alvin and the chipmunks movie and i actually like the movie

So there is hope.

[andyman1970]

Originally Posted by BirdManJr

Tom and Jerry isnt really a fresh new idea.

But they did make a alvin and the chipmunks movie and i actually like the movie

So there is hope.

But Alvin, Simon and Theodore could talk and communicate with humans so the movie was pretty true to the old cartoon. Tom and Jerry never talked and did nothing but fight and set traps for each other. And they NEVER teamed up. I am skeptical. This has Flintstones fiasco written all over it.

[Beta Man]

My son is sitting here watching "Tom And Jerry" right now..... and from my viewpoint, I can't see how they'd make this a good movie!

[BirdManJr]

Well maybe they could make it like the chipmunks...with real people in the movie and there cgi.

they did have people..the black woman that was toms owner u just heard her voice and seen her house slippers tho lol and a couple others.. / the woman cat that tom liked talked....

They can do it...All this negativity in the air!

[Verisimilitude]

It will be crap. Live action is dreadful.

They attempted a Tom & Jerry movie in the early 90s and made them talk and 'team-up', and that was pitiful. The characters were never meant to talk or 'team-up'. The moment you do that, you've lost the essence of what they were (even if by today's standards, some think they're not politically correct, their cartoons were classics and had more impact as shorts).

[McKellars]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude

It will be crap. Live action is dreadful.

They attempted a Tom & Jerry movie in the early 90s and made them talk and 'team-up', and that was pitiful. The characters were never meant to talk or 'team-up'. The moment you do that, you've lost the essence of what they were (even if by today's standards, some think they're not politically correct, their cartoons were classics and had more impact as shorts).

Yeah, that movie was dreadful. I have a copy of it on VHS... not sure where it ever came from.

[BirdManJr]

well when it finally comes out dont watch it then.

Case closed.

[PH3AR]

I have a feeling this movie is gunna suck...but ill give it a chance just because the cartoon was awsome!...instead of live action they should make it just a full CG movie probally be better that way

[Blu Titan]

I would love to see it, and ditto for my son. It could be a fun movie.