Scooby-Doo: The Sans Dynasty

Scooby-Doo: The Sans Dynasty is an upcoming American computer-animated supernatural adventure black comedy crossover film featuring the adventure of Scooby and Spongebob. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and Ducapark Studios, co-produced by Aardman Animations and in association with Industrial Light & Magic, and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the sequel to Scooby-Doo: Yoshi's Weirdmageddon (2021) and is set after the events of Yoshi's Multiverse of Madness (2023) and Shrek: Octomania (2023). It is directed by Eric Darnell and co-directed by Craig Berry, from a screenplay written by Etan Cohen, and a story by Cohen and Chris Jenkins.

Scooby-Doo: The Sans Dynasty is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 22, 2023, by Universal Pictures. A seqeul, Scooby-Doo: King's Tide, is scheduled for release on November 8, 2024.

Premise
After the events of Shrek: Octomania, Scooby, June, Puss, Gill and the Plush Toy Cartoon Trilogy attempt to prevent Sans with help from the Collector and Dark Kahn, from collecting the six Copyright Elements using his Super DMCA gauntlets as part of his quest to kill all non-DreamWorks life in the universe.

Cast

 * Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo, a talking Great Dane who has retired and settled down with his wife, Rarity.
 * Paul Rudd as King SpongeBob SquarePants, a king of Denpak and the heart of the Plush Toy Cartoon Trilogy.
 * Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots
 * Amy Poehler as June Bailey
 * Fred Armisen as:
 * Hefty Smurf, a former ambassador of the PTCT who yields the Wind Element. Cohen described Hefty as "[ending] up being the reasonable adult in the room" with the "widest perspective available".
 * Brainy Smurf, a scientist and a former ambassador of the PTCT.
 * Willem Dafoe as Gill, The leader of the Tank Gang, who became a soldier fighter. Eric Darnell said after the events of Scooby-Doo: Yoshi’s Weirdmageddon (2021) and Cuphead (2023), Gill struggles with the conflict between his responsibility to himself and his responsibility to others. The character embodies the "spirit" of Captain America from Avengers: Infinity War, in the film, and receives new gauntlets from Guy.
 * Bill Hader as Leonard, a Czech pig who was a former ally of Scooby-Doo and the PTCT.
 * Natalie Morales as The Collector, a child-like being of immense power who is the last of a race of long-lived, powerful beings from beyond the stars who preserve worlds but would exterminate troublesome specimens. He was previously seen in Hefty and the Minions (2022) and The Patrick Star Show.
 * Michael B. Jordan as Cuphead, a military soldier turned anthropomorphic cup.
 * Jack Black as Shrek. Eric Darnell stated that Shrek's storyline picks up after the events of Shrek: Octomania (2023), which finds him in a "very profound", "very interesting place" with "real emotional motivation". Writer Etan Cohen consulted Shrek: Octomania director James Ryan and co-writer/producer Adam McKay to help carry over the comedic and tragic elements of the re-toned Shrek from that film.
 * Katy Perry as Smurfette.
 * Awkwafina as Mrs. Tarantula, a sharp-tongued and sarcastic expert hacker tarantula also known as "Webs", and a member of the reformed Good Guys.
 * David Koechner as Dark Kahn, an immortal mammalian, who assists Sans. He was previously seen in The Patrick Star Show, the mid-credit scene of Yoshi’s Multiverse of Madness (2023) and Plush Toy Cartoon Trilogy (2007). Cohen described the character as a hybrid of Jeffrey Tambor's Augustus Maywho from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Rex Dangervest from The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) and Dennis from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004).
 * Benedict Wong as:
 * Manny, a white steampunk robotic yeti, who helped Hefty overcome his goals and became Bubble Bass and Leonard’s tri-partner.
 * The Ugly Duckling.
 * Brian Hull as:
 * Bubble Bass, a hybrid of Luz Noceda and Ramon.
 * Plankton, a former ambassador of the PTCT. He was previously voiced by Chris Hardwick in The Patrick Star Show and Yoshi's Multiverse of Madness (2023).
 * Bloat, a pufferfish who works for Gill, and grew a beard that resembles the Tank Gang’s fallen comrades Gurgle, Jacques and Bubbles. He was previously voiced by Kelly Asbury before his death in 2020 and Scooby-Doo: Yoshi's Weirdmageddon was dedicated to his memory.
 * Gargamel, a member of the Good Guys, who was a president of Soviet Honduras. He was previously voiced by Hank Azaria
 * King, Luz’s friend who is a helper to The Collector and Dark Kahn. He was previously voiced by Alex Hirsch in Hefty and the Minions (2022).
 * Guy, he was previously seen in LegoDolls: Simba’s Boots (2017). He was previously voiced by Ryan Reynolds.
 * Will Arnett as Sans, a muck-covered powerful warlord who seeks all six copyright elements to destroy half of non-Dreamworks life for the sake of returning DreamWorks to normal.
 * Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, a witty, charming, pickpocket turned good wolf and the leader of "The Good (Bad) Guys" gang.
 * Tessa Thompson as Queen Twilight Sparkle, Spongebob’s wife.

Additionally, Ashleigh Ball, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Marc Maron, Zazie Beetz, Jordan Peele and Tabitha St. Germain reprise their roles as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, Diane Foxington, Mugman and Rarity. Martin Scorsese appears in an undisclosed cameo.

Development
In a June 2021 interview, director Mark Osborne stated that he was interested in making a sequel after the success of Scooby-Doo: Yoshi’s Weirdmageddon. He said, "We've certainly thought about it. There are other stories that we would be excited about telling. But for us, it's really about seeing if people love this one, and then taking it from there." In February 2022, Etan Cohen said that he was working on the film's screenplay from a story by Christopher Jenkins, and that Eric Darnell would be the director of the film. On March 18, 2022, DreamWorks announced that the sequel will be split into two parts: Scooby-Doo: Thanks to Them (Part One) and (Part Two), with Rob LaDuca, Nick Park, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will return as producers on the two-part sequel with Bradford Lewis under LaDuca and Park’s Ducapark Studios banner. Aardman will work on the film with Industrial Light & Magic making their first collaboration. In August, the sequels were renamed, becoming Scooby-Doo: The Sans Dynasty and Scooby-Doo: King’s Tide. That October, Craig Berry (who was head of story on The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) was announced as co-director alongside Darnell, and Tim Johnson, Chris Jenkins, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Mark Osborne and Mark Swift were also announced as executive producers.

Casting
In November 2022, Frank Welker, Antonio Banderas and Amy Poehler began to reprise their roles from Yoshi’s Weirdmageddon. On April 26, 2023, Paul Rudd, Fred Armisen, Willem Dafoe, Bill Hader, Natalie Morales, Michael B. Jordan, Jack Black, Katy Perry and Sam Rockwell were announced to reprise their respective roles in the film. In May 2023, Tessa Thompson would reprise her role as Queen Twilight Sparkle in the film. Later that June, David Koechner, Will Arnett, Awkwafina and Benedict Wong reprise their roles, respectively, while Brian Hull voiced 6 characters, Bubble Bass, Plankton, Bloat, Guy, Gargamel and King replacing Chris Hardwick, Kelly Asbury (who died in 2020), Ryan Reynolds, Hank Azaria and Alex Hirsch. In September, it was announced that Martin Scorsese will have an undisclosed cameo in the film.

Animation
Rob LaDuca revealed that animation on the film had begun with the characters by March 2022, with Eddie Trigueros as Character Designer and David James as Production Designer. The film's design was inspired by Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Ernest & Celestine (2012), to make the film look more like saturday morning cartoons, from an idea suggested by the production designer David James. DreamWorks, Ducpark, Aardman and ILM focused more on a cartoon style design, to make the film look like a cinematic universe.

Music
On June 18, 2023, it was announced that John Powell will compose the sequels' score, as well as his 29th animated film score, following Hefty and the Minions (2022). Pitbull, Will.i.am and Kesha will create songs for the sequels. In July 2023, LaDuca and Park confirmed that Lil Jon would be executive music producer for its soundtrack.

Marketing
A teaser trailer was released on July 13, 2023. Darnell discussed his decision to handpick the trailer's 2 songs, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon and “Three Little Birds” by Sean Paul ft. Ziggy Marley. He explained them as the "perfect" choice since the first song was released in 2008, the year that Luz’s Backstory was set in Hefty and the Minions (2022). He further said that Kings of Leon's voice and Ziggy Marley’s reggaeton captured much of how emotional the adventure is in the film.

Theatrical
Scooby-Doo: The Sans Dynasty is scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023. Upon the project's announcement, it was given a release date of December 20, 2023, in March 2022, but was pushed back to January 19, 2024 in July 2022. In April 2023, it was pushed forward two weeks to January 5, 2024. In June 2023, it was pushed forward two weeks to its current date again.

Home Media
As part of their 18-month deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, then will move to Netflix for the next ten, and then will return to Peacock for the remaining four.