There are familiar worlds, there are new worlds and then there are the worlds we have spent years waiting to finally see brought to life.
Warner Bros. is bringing a little bit of everything to Brand Licensing Europe 2026.
The company has revealed a massive look at its upcoming film and television pipeline stretching through 2028, with new takes on some of its most recognizable properties sitting alongside original animated worlds and long-awaited adaptations. And while there is a lot to unpack, two names immediately jump to the top.
Scooby-Doo is entering an entirely new era.
And “The Lunar Chronicles” is finally coming to the big screen.
For Mystery Inc., 2027 will bring two very different franchise firsts. “Scooby-Doo: Origins” will arrive on Netflix as the property’s first live-action series, while “Yokoso Scooby-Doo!” will take Scooby and the gang somewhere they’ve never officially gone before with the franchise’s first original anime series.
“Scooby-Doo: Origins,” produced by Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions and Midnight Radio, will offer a modern reimagining of how the iconic group of meddling kids first came together and solved their first mystery.
But there is another rather important member of the gang.
Scooby himself.
For the first time in the history of the franchise, the live-action series will portray Scooby-Doo using a real Great Dane. Considering we’re talking about a character who has been solving mysteries since 1969, finding something Scooby hasn’t done before is already quite the accomplishment.
Then Warner Bros. Animation is taking him in a completely different direction.
“Yokoso Scooby-Doo!” will become the first original “Scooby-Doo” anime series, combining Mystery Inc.’s familiar characters and mystery-solving formula with the visual artistry of anime. The series will debut exclusively on Tubi in North America and Cartoon Network internationally, with Warner Bros. looking to introduce Scooby to younger audiences while continuing to expand the franchise’s global reach.
Two new interpretations arriving in the same year make 2027 a particularly significant moment for a property that has already reinvented itself countless times.
And Warner Bros. is making Scooby one of the stars of its BLE presence as well. Attendees will be able to stop at the “Scooby-Doo Café” on the show floor to refuel with a snack or two.
Because even meddling kids need a break between mysteries.
But Scooby isn’t the only name on Warner Bros.’ slate that has us paying particularly close attention.
“The Lunar Chronicles” Is Finally Coming to the Big Screen
A cyborg Cinderella. A gifted hacker reimagining Little Red Riding Hood. Rapunzel trapped aboard a satellite. A princess hiding from a powerful queen on the moon.
Yes.
We are finally talking about “The Lunar Chronicles.”
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation are officially bringing Marissa Meyer’s #1 New York Times bestselling book series to the screen for the first time, and now the long-awaited adaptation has something particularly exciting attached to it:
A theatrical release date.
“The Lunar Chronicles” will arrive in theaters November 3, 2028.
For readers who have spent years with Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter and the enormous science-fiction fairy-tale world surrounding them, simply seeing an actual date attached to this adaptation feels significant.
Meyer’s series takes the foundations of classic fairy tales and completely rebuilds them inside a richly imagined future, transforming familiar characters into unlikely heroes whose individual stories become pieces of something much larger. Warner Bros. describes the upcoming film as combining the scale of science fiction with the heart of timeless fairy tales for a bold cinematic vision.
And animation feels like a particularly exciting playground for a world like this.
“The Lunar Chronicles” jumps between fairy-tale imagery and futuristic technology, dramatically different environments and characters whose individual worlds eventually collide. There is an enormous amount for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation to visually play with as they translate something readers have imagined for years onto the big screen.
November 2028 may still be a long way off.
But Cinder officially has a date.
And somehow Warner Bros. still isn’t finished.
“Bad Fairies” Are Coming to London
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation will first introduce moviegoers to another magical world with “Bad Fairies,” an original musical comedy set in contemporary London.
The film follows a delightfully subversive gang of fairies as they shake up their magical world, with a voice cast featuring Cynthia Erivo, Ncuti Gatwa, Serrana Su-Ling Bliss, James Acaster and Dee Bradley Baker.
“Bad Fairies” will arrive in theaters May 21, 2027.
The project also gives Locksmith Animation two very different Warner Bros. projects on the horizon, with an original fairy-filled musical in 2027 followed by the considerably larger literary world of “The Lunar Chronicles” in 2028.
Mrs. Claus Is Going on a Rescue Mission
Then there is “Margie Claus.”
And apparently Christmas 2027 is going completely off the rails.
The high-stakes holiday adventure begins when Santa Claus disappears on Christmas Eve, leaving his wife Margie—voiced by Melissa McCarthy—to do what any reasonable Mrs. Claus would apparently do.
She pulls a century-old sleigh out of mothballs, assembles a wildly unqualified rescue team and heads for the South Pole to save her husband and Christmas.
There is just one slight complication.
At the South Pole, good cheer can get you killed.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and On the Day Productions will bring “Margie Claus” to theaters November 12, 2027.
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Heads Somewhere New
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is also expanding one of Dr. Seuss’ most recognizable books into a sweeping animated musical adventure.
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” draws from the beloved book by Theodor Geisel as well as his personal artwork, with Ariana Grande voicing Whisper and Josh Gad starring as Bixby.
Directed by Jon M. Chu and Jill Culton, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” will arrive in theaters March 17, 2028.
Taken together, Warner Bros.’ upcoming pipeline represents a fascinating mixture of animation’s past, present and potential future.
Scooby-Doo has spent decades reinventing himself and is somehow still finding completely new places to go. “Bad Fairies” and “Margie Claus” are being introduced as new worlds with room to grow. Dr. Seuss is heading into another ambitious animated adaptation.
And then there is “The Lunar Chronicles,” a world readers already know and love that is finally preparing to become something they can experience together on the big screen.
That range is also exactly what Warner Bros. Global Consumer Products will be presenting to potential partners at Brand Licensing Europe: established characters with generations of recognition alongside properties it hopes can become major franchises of tomorrow.
There are plenty of reasons to watch what comes next.
But we’re already circling two years on the calendar.
2027 belongs to a certain mystery-solving Great Dane who apparently still has a few firsts left in him.
And on November 3, 2028?
Cinder is coming.