WWE Studios has had an interesting history. First set up in the hopes that it would be able to develop theatrically released starring vehicles for WWE wrestlers in the action and horror genres, this fledgling wing of Vince McMahon Jr.’s empire has since gone through myriad strategy changes. It’s gone from making R rated films to making PG and PG-13 rated films exclusively, from giving its movies wide releases to giving them straight to video releases, it’s moved away from action and tried its hand at family films and comedies, and most recently it’s even teamed up with Lionsgate to re-boot the Leprechaun franchise.
And today the studio announced that they’re going to be adding yet another type of film to their repertoire, by creating an animated feature. Which is an historic announcement indeed, as this new project will be the first time wrestlers have appeared in animated form since Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling hit the television airwaves in the early ’80s.
Don’t think that WWE wrestlers will be the only characters making appearances, however, because WWE Studios is teaming up with Warner Bros. for this one, and they’re bringing their rights to the Scooby-Doo property along with them. Reportedly, this new film will feature Scooby and the gang heading on a road trip to Wrestlemania, which of course gets interrupted when they find themselves in the middle of a mystery. This time around they have to stop a ghostly bear who’s intent on ruining the show (WHAT?). In addition to the usual Scooby characters, WWE personalities Triple H, John Cena, Kane, The Miz, Brodus Clay, Santino Marella, Sin Cara, AJ, and McMahon himself are all confirmed as lending their voices to the cast.
Warner Bros. will be handling the film’s worldwide distribution onto DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD, while WWE will take it upon themselves to handle the marketing. Which, with the army of children WWE has as loyal supporters, might be a pretty smart strategy. Could marketing cartoons to pre-teens be the way that WWE Studios finally makes a foothold in the movie industry? That would be ironic, considering their first solo effort was the R-rated and rapey See No Evil, which told us way more about WWE wrestler Kane’s sexual proclivities than we ever wanted to know. [via Coming Soon]