Fans Are Now Leaking Footage From Another Canceled Warner Bros. Movie, and It’s Scooby-Doo’s Turn
Warner Bros.’ history of shelving finished animated films for tax purposes produced one genuine underdog success story earlier this year, and fans clearly haven’t forgotten it. ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ the hybrid live-action and animated film that sat completely finished for three years after being scrapped in 2023, finally reached theaters after a sustained public campaign convinced the studio to sell off the distribution rights instead of quietly writing the movie off.
That win has clearly emboldened fans still fighting for other shelved Warner Bros. projects to keep pushing, and the tactics are getting bolder. Rather than simply campaigning with hashtags and petitions, some supporters have started taking matters into their own hands to force the issue back into public conversation.
Alongside the renewed push to save ‘Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical,’ supporters of another canceled film, ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt,‘ have started sharing leaked footage from the movie directly, betting that public pressure and viral attention might be enough to finally force the studio’s hand. One fan account resurfaced a clip from the film this week specifically out of fear it could be taken down, tagging the post with the hashtags SaveScoobHolidayHaunt and ReleaseScoobHolidayHaunt.
‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ was originally set to premiere on HBO Max as a Christmas-themed midquel to 2020’s ‘Scoob!,’ before Warner Bros. Discovery shelved the nearly finished film in August 2022, citing cost-cutting measures amid the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger. Co-directors Michael Kurinsky and Bill Haller responded at the time by launching the SaveScoobHolidayHaunt hashtag themselves, hoping fan pressure might reverse the decision.
That campaign drew immediate support from several people involved in the film. Co-writer Paul Dini publicly questioned the business logic behind canceling a movie he described as 95% finished, especially given its timing right before the holiday season. Cast member Iain Armitage also thanked fans directly for rallying behind the film, writing that their support “means everything” to him.
The film’s voice cast reads like a genuine ensemble of recognizable names, including Mark Hamill, Michael McKean, Ming-Na Wen, Maya Hawke, and the late Andre Braugher, alongside younger cast members like Armitage, Ariana Greenblatt, Mckenna Grace, and Pierce Gagnon voicing the young Mystery Inc. gang.
Unlike ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ though, ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ hasn’t found a distributor willing to take on the tangled tax and rights situation that comes with reviving a shelved project. Industry observers have noted the film’s status remains tied to its original write-off, and unwinding that arrangement could require Warner Bros. Discovery to repay the financial benefits it originally claimed, a significantly more complicated hurdle than what ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ ultimately faced.
That complication hasn’t stopped fans from trying, though, and the willingness to leak actual footage marks a noticeably more aggressive approach than the petitions and social media campaigns that have defined this fight since 2022. For a fanbase that’s watched one shelved Warner Bros. animated film beat the odds already this year, the leaked clips represent the clearest signal yet that the ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ campaign isn’t going away quietly.
Whether this latest push finally moves the needle for Warner Bros. remains to be seen, but with ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ proving persistence can pay off, fans clearly aren’t ready to give up on Mystery Inc. just yet.
Should Warner Bros. release Scoob! Holiday Haunt?
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!
