After ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ hope for shelved Scooby-Doo movie revived by ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ director
A turn elsewhere has Michael Kurinsky newly confident Scoob! Holiday Haunt could actually reach viewers.
With Coyote vs. Acme finally in theaters and winning over critics, director Michael Kurinsky used the moment to push for his own locked-away movie: Scoob! Holiday Haunt. In a new Instagram post, he reminded fans the Christmas- set prequel is finished and sitting on a shelf, and argued it deserves the same second chance.
“I am one of the directors of Scoob! Holiday Haunt, a movie that was shelved by Warner Bros. It is every bit a Scooby-Doo mystery ready to be watched every Christmas with an A-list cast.”
Kurinsky also tagged a handful of actors connected to the project and beyond, essentially asking who might help pry the movie out of the vault the way indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment did for Coyote vs. Acme.
- Mark Hamill
- Michael McKean
- Mckenna Grace
- Cristo Fernández
- Ariana Greenblatt
- Ming-Na Wen
- Iain Armitage
Where Scoob! stands
Scoob! Holiday Haunt was completed in 2022 as a prequel to 2020’s Scoob!, then was shelved months later alongside Batgirl, reportedly for tax reasons. The finished film is said to remain on Warner Bros.’ servers, awaiting a buyer willing to take it to audiences.
Coyote’s escape hatch
The Wile E. Coyote comedy had a similar fate before its rescue: Warner Bros. had reportedly written it off despite strong test screenings. Ketchup Entertainment stepped in to release it, and the movie opened wide on August 28, landing at No. 2 at the box office behind Spider- Man: Brand New Day with about $15 million domestically out of the gate.
The reception has been a jolt of validation—reviews settled around 95% on Rotten Tomatoes after briefly touching a perfect score, IGN gave it 9/10, audiences handed it a strong CinemaScore, and the debut marked the biggest opening in Ketchup Entertainment’s history. For Kurinsky, that’s proof a completed, well-tested movie can find daylight after being mothballed.
He’s now hoping the Scooby gang gets the same lifeline. The holiday prequel was completed in 2022.