| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | Bone | In August 1998, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies acquired the rights to produce an animated film adaptation of the Bone comics.[4] Jeff Smith, author of the Bone comics, stated in a 2003 interview that Nickelodeon had insisted on the Bone cousins being voiced by child actors and wanted the film's soundtrack to include pop songs by the likes of N'Sync. Smith's response was that nobody would insert pop songs in the middle of The Lord of the Rings or The Empire Strikes Back and therefore pop songs should not be placed in Bone either.[5] The film was then developed at Warner Bros. under their Warner Animation Group banner instead. However, in 2019, Netflix purchased the rights to turn Bone into an animated series, which was later cancelled in April 2022 during a reorganization of Netflix Animation.[6] [7] [8] |
| Hey Arnold! | | In 1998, Nickelodeon offered Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett a chance to develop two feature-length films based on the series: one as a TV movie or direct-to-video and another slated for a theatrical release. Nickelodeon asked Bartlett to do "the biggest idea he could think of" for the theatrical film. Albie Hecht, who was president of Nickelodeon at the time, suggested to Bartlett about making the theatrical feature as a spiritual sequel/follow-up to the episode "Parents Day", and have Arnold try to solve the mystery of what happened to his parents. Though after successful test screenings of the made-for-TV movie titled Arnold Saves the Neighborhood, it was decided that it would instead be given a theatrical release in 2002, under the title of to attract the attention of the public. Around this time, Hecht also asked Bartlett to produce a special one-hour 'prequel' episode titled "The Journal" that would serve as a lead-in to the second movie. The episode debuted on November 11, 2002. But due to the disappointing box office results of the first film, Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie was cancelled and ended up leaving the original series with an unresolved cliffhanger ending. The project was later revived as a two-hour TV film that debuted on November 24, 2017. | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | Crood Awakening | In 2005, DreamWorks started to develop a stop-motion film with Aardman Animations called Crood Awakening, an adaptation of the book called The Twits by Roald Dahl in caveman times.[26] [27] It was cancelled because of the split between the two companies in 2007.[28] Both companies have now made their own prehistoric caveman movies, The Croods for DreamWorks and Early Man for Aardman, but neither of these two films are related to said book. |
| Feature film | Route 66 | In September 2005, DreamWorks announced an original film, with Mulligan, a giant golf ball statue standing on a side of Route 66 who goes on a journey to save a giant blueberry statue named Betty when she gets taken away. The concept came from comedian Harland Williams, alongside Conrad Vernon and Rej Bourdages. Williams and Vernon were slated to pen the screenplay.[29] In 2009, Williams revealed in an email inquiry that the film had been shelved.[30] |
| Feature film | It Came From Earth! | In September 2005, DreamWorks announced they were developing an original film with Sheira & Loli's Dittydoodle Works creator Cory Rosenberg. The film would have been an alien invasion spoof revolving around a planet of Martians who are visited by human astronauts. Josh Lobis and Darin Moiselle were attached to write the script.[31] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| The Fairly OddParents | Untitled The Fairly OddParents animated film | In 2005 or 2006, Butch Hartman considered making a theatrical adaptation of his animated television series The Fairly OddParents after the show's initial cancellation in 2006, to be produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures. The film was to be animated much like the series as well as previous Nickelodeon fare such as the Rugrats trilogy and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, but was scrapped due to a management change at Paramount although the script was already written. Despite this, Hartman expressed interest in releasing the film for DVD someday, and stated that the script could serve for another TV movie of the show. The series ended on July 26, 2017, and Butch Hartman left Nickelodeon in early 2018 before moving to Sony Pictures Animation to plan any direct-to-video sequels to the original film,[32] [33] seemingly ending any chances of the film happening.[34] |
| Feature film | Punk Farm | In April 2006, DreamWorks Animation had the rights to develop a computer-animated film adaptation of the children's book of the same name by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.[35] In June 2011, the project was eventually picked up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but with no further news since.[36] [37] |
| Feature film | The Smurfs | In 2006, Paramount obtained the film rights to The Smurfs comics by Peyo and were planning to make a film based on the characters with Nickelodeon Movies. It was described to be an "epic-comedic fantasy", like The Lord of the Rings meets The Princess Bride.[38] Early animation footage was leaked on the internet in early 2008.[39] The film never came to be until Sony Pictures Animation bought the rights thus turning it into the 2011 film of the same name.[40] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Bee Movie | Bee Movie sequel | While it was never announced by the studio (although Jeffrey Katzenberg briefly joked about one in 2007[41]), comedian Jerry Seinfeld, the producer, writer, and star of 2007's Bee Movie, said that he has no interest in making a sequel. During a Reddit AMA in June 2016, a fan asked about the possibility for Bee Movie 2. Seinfeld responded: |
| Feature film | Gullible's Travels | In January 2007, DreamWorks bought a spec script titled Gullible's Travels which would have been about a man who travels through time via a porta potty to find the woman he loves. Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman (Open Season, Chicken Little) were slated to write and produce the project.[42] |
| Feature film | InterWorld | In June 2007, author Neil Gaiman reported in his journal that he had pitched the idea of InterWorld to DreamWorks back in 1996, but the executives were confused on the concept. Along with Michael Raeves, they later published their work into the novel, in which DreamWorks Animation had optioned into producing an animated film.[43] |
| Over the Hedge | Over the Hedge sequel | In May 2007, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that 2006's Over the Hedge, which was based off the titular comic strip, would not receive a sequel due to its box office performance. He claimed that "It was close. An almost."[44] In October 2010, an article explaining the possibility of a sequel was posted on the official Over the Hedge blog, saying that if a sequel failed to perform as well financially as the first film, DreamWorks could lose money on the project.[45] |
| Feature film | The Book of Life | DreamWorks initially optioned to make The Book of Life back in 2007, but production was cancelled due to "creative differences" with director Jorge Gutierrez.[46] The film was eventually made at 20th Century Fox Animation and Reel FX Creative Studios and was released by 20th Century Fox (which also had a distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation at that time) in 2014 to critical praise and was nominated for a Golden Globe for best animated feature. | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | Alma | By October 2010, a film adaptation of the animated short Alma was in development with the short's director Rodrigo Blaas slated to direct and Guillermo del Toro was to serve as executive producer.[53] The studio later hired Megan Holley, a writer of Sunshine Cleaning, to write a script.[54] Del Toro, who was also helping with the story and the design work, said in June 2012 that the film was in visual development.[55] |
| Feature film | Imaginary Enemies | In August 2010, DreamWorks Animation announced a first live-action/animated project. The project was to be told from the point of view of the imaginary friends who had long been used as scapegoats by unscrupulous children looking for someone else to blame for their misdeeds. Eventually fed up, the imaginary people would come looking for revenge when the kids are grown up. Screenwriters Joe Syracuse and Lisa Addario were attached to write the script.[56] |
| Feature film | Maintenance | In December 2010, DreamWorks bought the film rights to the comic book series Maintenance from Oni Press. The film rights were first acquired by Warner Bros. as a potential project for director McG, but DreamWorks then got rights after Warner Bros. dropped out.[57] |
| Feature film | Me and My Shadow/Edgar Wright's Shadows | In December 2010, DreamWorks Animation announced a project titled Me and My Shadow, scheduled for a March 2013 release date. The plot involved Shadow Stan who serves as a shadow to Stanley Grubb, the world's most boring human. Wanting to live a more exciting life, he escapes the "Shadow World" and takes control of Stanley. With Mark Dindal slated as the film's director (who also developed the film's concept and story), the film was meant to combine traditional and CGI animation.[58] In January 2012, Bill Hader, Kate Hudson, and Josh Gad had joined the voice cast. Additionally, Alessandro Carloni replaced Dindal as director and the release date was pushed back to November 2013.[59] Its release date was pushed back to March 14, 2014, with Mr. Peabody & Sherman taking its November 2013 release.[60] By February 2013, Me and My Shadow went back into development with Mr. Peabody & Sherman re-assuming its original March 2014 release.[61] In 2012, there was a press screening of Me and My Shadow where Jeffrey Katzenberg fell asleep. The crew working on the film knew "he wasn't it". After the screening he said it wasn't a $200 million film, which is what he "needed".[62] In 2015, Edgar Wright signed to direct and co-write an animated feature for DreamWorks, in which the story was described as a "new take on a previously developed concept about shadows".[63] In an interview with Collider published in June 2017, Wright explained that he and David Walliams had written three drafts, but the project is in limbo due to management changes at DreamWorks Animation.[64] Even with the project being in limbo, the public attention has risen high of the unreleased film a whole decade after it was announced; though many are eager to see it, the status of Me and My Shadow is uncertain.[65] |
| Feature film | Monsterpocalypse | In May 2010, DreamWorks acquired the rights to a film adaptation of the game.[66] The studio approached Tim Burton for the project[67] and Burton was attached to direct in July,[68] but the film went unproduced partly due to being similar to another Kaiju film called Pacific Rim directed by Guillermo del Toro. In 2016, Warner Bros. won the bidding war over film rights of the game, with Fede Álvarez co-writing and directing the film.[69] |
| Feature film | The Pig Scrolls | By April 2010, the studio was developing an animated feature film based on The Pig Scrolls. As a possible directing job, Barry Sonnenfeld was tasked to develop the film, while Kirk DeMicco wrote the most recent script revision.[70] |
| Feature film | Plants vs. Zombies | A film based on the video game was pitched.[71] [72] |
| Feature film | Vivo | In 2010, DreamWorks Animation began production on Vivo, an animated musical film which was based on an idea by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a concept by Peter Barsocchini. The film was to have centered on a kinkajou obsessed with music and adventure who embarks on a treacherous journey from Havana, Cuba, to Miami, Florida in pursuit of his dreams to fulfil his destiny.[73] [74] The film was eventually cancelled by DreamWorks Animation due to a restructuring, but in 2016, the film was later revived and eventually fast-tracked by Sony Pictures Animation with Kirk DeMicco as the director, and Brandon Jeffords as co-director, and Lisa Stewart and Rich Moore as producers, Laurence Mark as executive producer, and Quiara Alegría Hudes as screenwriter, and Peter Barsocchini as story writer, and Roger Deakins as visual consultant, and Yong Duk Jhun as cinematographer. The film was released on August 6, 2021, on Netflix, after being delayed multiple times from its original theatrical release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[75] |
| Feature film | The New Kid | Announced on June 2, 2011, Paramount Pictures had acquired the rights to produce an animated film, via Paramount Animation to make this, of the Penny Arcade one-off strip The New Kid which was published on October 29, 2010. The strip was one of three mini-strips which featured a cinematic opening to a larger story left unexplored.[76] The New Kid is about a boy who's moving to a new planet with his family because of his father's career.[77] The script was written by Gary Whitta and would have been produced by Mary Parent and Cale Boyter.[78] At PAX Australia in 2016, during a Q&A session, Holkins revealed that changes at Paramount resulted in the movie rights being returned to Penny Arcade and the project canceled. He did note, however, that Whitta's script was complete and the project could move forward with another production company in the future.[79]
|
| The Adventures of Tintin | The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun | In November 2011, Steven Spielberg announced a sequel to the 2011 film The Adventures of Tintin and was planned to be released sometime in the future.[80] As of 2019, there have been little to no info about the film, but Peter Jackson is still involved with the project.[81] [82] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | Flawed Dogs | By February 2011, DreamWorks optioned the rights of Berkeley Breathed's book Flawed Dogs.[83] By September 2013, it was revealed that Noah Baumbach had been secretly writing and directing the project.[84] |
| Feature film | Lidsville | In January 2011, a computer-animated musical film adaptation of the Lidsville TV series was announced to be in development with Conrad Vernon slated to direct while Alan Menken was to compose the songs with Glenn Slater.[85] Menken said that the songs were to be a homage to '60s psychedelic concept-album rock,[86] but in June 2016, Lidsville creator Sid Krofft told to The Wall Street Journal that it was going to be like Hair or Tommy, a full-blown musical, but they went in a "strange" direction and it didn't work.[87] |
| Feature film | Monkeys of Mumbai | By January 2011, DreamWorks was fast-tracking a Bollywood-styled musical adaptation of The Ramayana, but told through the point of view of its monkeys. It would have follow two common monkeys who become unlikely heroes in a last ditch effort to stop an ancient, thought-to-be-mythical demon from conquering the world. Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges were set to write the film, while Stephen Schwartz and A. R. Rahman were attached to compose the songs and score.[88] The project underwent a series of working titles: Monkeys of Bollywood, Monkeys of Mumbai, Mumbai Musical, and Bollywood Superstar Monkey. That June, Kevin Lima signed on to direct the project.[89] Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kal Penn, Lea Michele and Rohan Chand were in talks to join the cast in 2014.[90] The film was originally scheduled to be released on December 18, 2015,[91] but its release date was pushed back to March 18, 2016, and March 10, 2017.[92] [93] In December 2017, Lima revealed that DreamWorks quietly cancelled the film in an interview with Den of Geeks UK: |
| Feature film | Rumblewick | In March 2011, DreamWorks announced an animated adaptation of the book My Unwilling Witch (The Rumblewick Letters) and was to be titled Rumblewick. Tim Johnson and Jim Herzfeld were slated to write and direct the project.[94] In 2016, Brenda Chapman stated she had worked on the project.[95] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations | In September 2012, DreamWorks announced an animated film about ghosts that would have starred Seth Rogen, Matt Bomer, Melissa McCarthy, Bill Murray, Octavia Spencer, Rashida Jones, and Jennifer Coolidge. It was to be directed by Tony Leondis and written by Tom Wheeler from a story by Leondis. It was about two bumbling apparitions who find themselves in an extraordinary after-life adventure when they join the Bureau of Otherworldly Operations (B.O.O.) – the ghost world's elite counter-haunting unit – and ultimately must face off against the planet's greatest haunter.[96] It was scheduled to be released on June 5, 2015, but was pulled from its release to avoid competition with Disney•Pixar's Inside Out, and also due to a string of box office bombs like Rise of the Guardians, Turbo, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman.[97] In 2015, Leondis later moved from DreamWorks to Sony Pictures Animation to develop his next film, The Emoji Movie.[98] |
| Madagascar | Madagascar 4 | Then-DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg stated in December 2010 that there was likely to be a fourth installment in the Madagascar franchise, in which would have been set in New York.[99] In June 2012, DreamWorks Animation's head of worldwide marketing, Anne Globe, said that it was too early to talk about the project.[100] A month later, Eric Darnell, who co-directed all three films, spoke of the possibility of the fourth film, saying that if the audience wants a new film, then Eric and his crew would have an idea that is different from the previous films.[101] The film was scheduled to be released on May 18, 2018,[102] but was removed from the release schedule following a corporate restructuring and DreamWorks Animation's new policy to release two films a year.[103] [104] In April 2017, Tom McGrath said that the project was in the works, but nothing officially was announced.[105] |
| Rise of the Guardians | Rise of the Guardians sequel | Following the release of Rise of the Guardians, the creators expressed hope that the strong A− Cinemascore average for the film and an enthusiastic word-of-mouth would gather support for the "chance to make a sequel or two".[106] William Joyce, the film's co-producer and author of the book The Guardians of Childhood, stated he was in talks with the studio to make a sequel.[107] |
| Feature film | Giants: Forces of Nature | In 2012, DreamWorks filed a trademark for an unannounced film titled Giants: Forces of Nature.[108] [109] Peter Zaslav, an art director and visual development artist, posted concept art for the film (albeit password-protected).[110] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Rugrats | Untitled Rugrats film | On July 16, 2018, Variety reported that a new Rugrats movie was in production alongside a revival of the series with a release date originally set for November 13, 2020. The movie would've been a live action/CGI hybrid, to be written by David Goodman and would be produced by Paramount Players, a division of Paramount Pictures.[121] [122] [123] On February 28, 2019, it was announced that the movie would be pushed back to January 29, 2021.[124] On April 26, 2019, it was announced that David Bowers would be set as director, along with Karen Rosenfelt as producer.[125] However, on November 12, 2019, the film was pulled from Paramount's release schedule, in favor of WWE Studios' Rumble, which was delayed from a July 2020 release.[126] |
| Feature film | Monument Valley | In August 2018, Paramount Animation and Weed Road, in partnership with Ustwo Games, announced plans to develop a live action/CGI hybrid film based on the indie game Monument Valley, with Patrick Osborne slated to direct. It was anticipated that the film would feature live actors exploring the computer generated settings based on the game. Osborne stated "I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything".[127] | |
| Series | Title | Description |
|---|
| Feature film | The Shrinking of Treehorn | As of 2019, an animated film adaptation of the children's book The Shrinking of Treehorn directed by Ron Howard is said to be in development. The animation would be done by Animal Logic and distributed by Paramount Pictures under its Paramount Animation label.[128] By April 9, 2021, the film's release date was scheduled for November 10, 2023.[129] However, on May 16, 2022, it was announced that the film had been acquired by Netflix with Howard's Imagine Entertainment as its production studio.[130] |
| Feature film | Untitled Spice Girls film | Speaking in January 2019, following the announcement of the Spice Girls reunion tour, Simon Fuller confirmed plans to make an animated sequel to Spice World.[131] On 13 June 2019, it was reported that Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria had greenlit the project, with all five members of the band returning. The project would be produced by Simon Fuller, with Karen McCullah and Kiki Smith writing the screenplay, and would feature both previous and original songs.[132] The film would feature the band as superheroes.[133] | |
