Just a week after Warner Bros. announced an ambitious slate of live-action films in development, the company has given an official name to its new short-form digital production division and announced a similarly impressive schedule of live-action and animated projects for the studio.
The newly named “Blue Ribbon Content” will produce three full series, as well as several more comedy, horror, action, and virtual-reality projects.
The most high-profile project is an untitled, live-action series based on the Mortal Kombat game franchise, which is described as “an all-new series that showcases some of the franchise’s most storied characters, while introducing a new generation of fighters.” Warner Bros. Digital and Interactive divisions co-produced the critically praised, live-action Mortal Kombat: Legacy digital series, and the new series will likely serve as a tie-in for the April 2015 release of the Mortal Kombat X game.
Blue Ribbon is also working on a live-action series based on Static Shock, the DC Comics superhero who had his own comic book (pictured above) and four-season animated series that debuted in 2000. The series follows a teenage superhero with the ability to control electricity and magnetism, and it will be overseen by writer/producer/director Reginald Hudlin (House Party, The Bernie Mac Show), who will work with the original animated series’ creative lead, Denys Cowan.
Also included in the slate of projects is a live-action series based on the Critters sci-fi horror franchise. The original Critters premiered in 1986 and spawned three sequels, while also providing the feature-film debut of Leonardo DiCaprio in 1991’s Critters 3. According to the official announcement of the project, the series will “revisit the world of the legendary New Line Cinema cult classic movie franchise, as a new batch of alien pests descends upon the planet in this new digital series written by Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath (Teen Titans Go!).”
Related: We step into NetherRealm’s latest arena of death in Mortal Kombat X
“We are tremendously excited about Blue Ribbon Content’s initial slate of development projects, and we are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a talented group of writers and producers on projects that they feel exceptionally passionate about,” said Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Other highlights from the Blue Ribbon slate include:
Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles (Machinima) — Animated shortform series from Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett (producers of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series) will debut on Machinima in 2015. Based on Justice League: Gods & Monsters, an original animated film that will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment later in 2015.
Play It Again, Dick (CW Seed) — Co-written and executive produced by Veronica Mars creator/executive producer Rob Thomas for CW Seed, the digital-only studio of The CW Television Network. Play It Again, Dick stars Ryan Hansen as himself as he pleads with former Veronica Mars castmates and friends to help him get his character, Dick Casablancas, a spinoff.
RejecTED — Check out some of the lesser-known and just completely rejected speeches that the world never got to hear — until now — in this original satirical comedy.
Ginger Snaps — Follow a troop of young girls as they backstab, manipulate and sabotage their way through the seedy underworld of the Ginger Snaps and preserve their power and influence at the top of the cookie pile.
Golden Revenge — Two adorable house pets — a cat and dog — love their life with their owner. His new wife? Not so much. After receiving an “it’s me or the pets” ultimatum, the husband takes the cat and dog deep into the forest and leaves them behind. Now it’s up to the pets to find their way across the country — to exact their revenge!
Ouroboros — Original horror/thriller from producer Akiva Goldsman (executive producer of the Paranormal Activity franchise) follows two police officers over the course of one night in a remote part of Wisconsin as they are overwhelmed by a series of mysterious attacks.
Batman: The Animated Series Experience — Blue Ribbon, DC Entertainment and visual effects pioneer OTOY are teaming up on an immersive entertainment experience that will see the Batcave from Batman: The Animated Series brought to life via interactive holographic video for virtual reality devices such as the Samsung GALAXY Gear VR, the Oculus Rift, and on forthcoming “glasses-free” light field displays.
We can expect to hear more about these projects as production commences, with likely premiere dates and casting down the road.
