'Scooby-Doo' to make comeback in animated avatar

After enthralling audiences the world over with its quirky, crime and mystery-solving tales, Scooby-Doo is all set to make a comeback on the big screen as an animated feature.

Tony Cervone, an Emmy-nominated animation veteran who has directed several straight-to-own movies in the lucrative franchise, is helming the movie, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, who previously produced the studio's live-action Scooby movies, 2002's "Scooby-Doo" and 2004's "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed", are producing the film along with Allison Abbate.

Warner Bros, which will release the movie under its Warner Animation Group banner, is hoping the film culminates in a series of movies featuring characters from the stable of Hanna-Barbera, the animation company which dominated the airwaves in the 1960s and early 1970s in the US.

Greg Silverman, president of creative development and worldwide production, Warner Bros, said: "Like countless fans, I have always loved the Hanna-Barbera cast of characters. As one of their most famous brand ambassadors, Scooby-Doo will take the lead in re-introducing this pantheon of enduringly popular animated stars on a grand scale with an exciting new movie."

The film is slated for a September 21, 2018 release.