‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’ director has finished film even though Warner Bros. refuses to release it

Although Warner Bros. has canceled the sequel to ‘Scooby!’ simultaneously with “Batgirl”, That didn’t stop Michael Kurinsky from finishing the film that would have been his directorial debut, ‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’, whether they wanted to release it or not. Kurinsky had been working with Bill Haller as co-director on this animated feature for two years when the unfortunate news reached them and three months later it’s completely finished with all renders and details missing.

“I’ve been in this industry for 27, 28 years, something like that”Kurinsky tells Variety, “That’s what I’ve been working towards my entire career and it finally happened. Then, eight weeks before we broke up, things changed.” The film was already in post-production and was supposed to premiere on HBO MAX on December 22 of this year: “We had a few hundred shots that needed to be finished, lit, rendered and then approved”Kurinsky explains, “We had some time to finish those scenes and we did it. I felt we were 95% done. It’s being very close.”.

Since the film was already paid for, Warner Bros. allowed them to finish it and for weeks the entire team continued to work on it even though they knew it would probably never reach an audience: “I’m glad it’s over because a lot of people have worked so hard to create something beautiful and really cool,” adds Kurinsky, “We work with highly experienced professionals and I have tried to lift their spirits as best I can. I mean, I was really hurt inside, yet I see myself in these meetings and I have to inspire and sustain the enthusiasm to finish the film. I did everything possible to keep my best face because I wanted to keep everyone’s enthusiasm… I am very grateful to everyone who, even knowing that this had no chance to come to light, worked as if it should be released ”.

It seems that the reason for the cancellation of ‘Batgirl’ and ‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’ would be exclusively financial and not related to the quality of the productions because, by not releasing them either in theaters or on the streaming platform, the production company can take advantage of a tax relief and recover part of the investment costs. Of course, for Kurinsky this was a bittersweet experience: “Achieving so many goals in my life and then not achieving them is, as you can imagine, incredibly disappointing.” For Warner to recoup 40 million in tax breaks, he can’t make money out of it, sell it, release it, or monetize it in any way, so it goes straight into a drawer: “As long as Discovery owns Warner Bros., I don’t think anything can or will happen to this movie. To me, I feel like it’s Warner Bros. Discovery, there doesn’t seem to be any way around it,” predicts the director.

Perhaps not the worst part of it, but a tricky one, is how she found out that her two-year-old work would never see the light of day: via Twitter. “According to Warner Bros, the news was leaked”remember the animator, “And they couldn’t call us when it leaked, so we shockingly found out.” Kurinsky also complains that the working conditions imposed by the studio weren’t the best and despite everything he and his team did their best: “They gave us two years from start to finish. And I don’t mean we started with a written script and had two years to produce it, I mean we started with two pages of treatment and they said ‘You have two years to make this film and it has to be done by this date. Let’s go.” And we had it ready for the day when they told us.”

what did we miss

Halfway between mystery and Christmas tale, ‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’ stars the voices of Iain Armitage, Mark Hamill, Cristo Fernández, Ming Na-Wen and Frank Welker and begins about two weeks after the opening Halloween scene of ‘Scooby!’. The gang is young again and still getting to know each other and embarking on a Christmas journey that will lead them to a new character, Fred’s uncle Ned.

“The Storyline Was Basically Scooby-Doo’s First Christmas”explains the director, “The gang take Scooby to a vacation-themed resort owned by Fred’s uncle, and of course, like every other episode of Scooby-Doo, they go somewhere, a mystery comes up, and the gang get involved.” Even if it’s all over, there’s little chance we’ll be able to enjoy it in any format, which sounds pretty cruel: “Regardless of the result, I would do this whole experience again”, Kurinsky says “Being able to direct is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Now that I’ve done it, I know I’m a better director. I’m a better storyteller. And I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. It made me think about that said, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” And the answer after this experience is a resounding yes. Absolutely, it does sound.” Just because the public doesn’t see it, there are people who have seen it and people who have worked on it. And he certainly played. This movie made a beautiful sound that I hope one day everyone can hear.”