'Tom and Jerry': Tim Story in Talks to Direct for Warner Bros.

Tom and Jerry are ready to play cat and mouse once more.


Filmmaker Tim Story is in talks to direct a live-action hybrid Tom and Jerry movie for Warner Bros. Animation Group, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.


Tom and Jerry began life as a series of long-running shorts created by animation pioneers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and first introduced in 1940. They centered on the exploits of house cat Tom and his never-ending battle with mouse Jerry. Seven of the shorts, released by MGM, won Oscars from 1943-53. The animated pair have remained in the pop culture consciousness over the years, first getting their own full-length theatrical film with 1993's Tom and Jerry: The Movie.


Story is also known for 2014's Ride Along, starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, and its 2016 sequel. He also directed a pair of Fantastic Four movies, as well as Think Like a Man and its 2014 sequel. Story next has the Shaft reboot, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie T. Usher, which is due out June 4, 2019.


In addition to Tom and Jerry, Warner Bros. has movement on another property as well. Harry Potter filmmaker Chris Columbus has boarded an animated Scooby-Doo movie as creative producer. The animated franchise, about a gang of friends who solve mysteries with the help of their Great Dane, last appeared on the big screen with the 2004 live-action/hybrid Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.