‘Daphne and Velma’ origin film announced

This is one to squarely plant on the ‘unexpected’ list. Overnight Warner Bros. has announced that an origin film featuring Scooby Doo characters Daphne and Velma is in production. Masterminded by WB’s Blue Ribbon Content studio in league with Blondie Girl Productions the film will hit home video and TV sometime in 2018.

Here’s the full press release:

Warner Bros. Television Group’s digital studio Blue Ribbon Content is currently in production on “Daphne and Velma,” a live-action feature-length film reimagining the origins of Mystery Inc.’s fierce female duo, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley. From Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale’s Blondie Girl Productions, the film, currently shooting in Atlanta, will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in 2018.
Sarah Jeffrey (Shades of Blue) and Sarah Gilman (Last Man Standing) star in the title roles as Daphne and Velma, respectively.

“Blondie Girl is committed to telling stories from a female perspective and we could not be more thrilled to give Daphne and Velma their own story,” said Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale, producers and founders of Blondie Girl Productions. “It’s so exciting to partner with Warner Home Entertainment and Blue Ribbon Content to introduce a new generation to the smart, charismatic, fearless females that we all know and love.”

“We wanted to give the audience a new take on these two familiar faces, who are fan favorites in the Scooby-Doo universe,” said Peter Girardi, Executive Vice President, Blue Ribbon Content & Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, Warner Bros. Animation. “Daphne and Velma are two iconic and strong female characters, and this latest adventure of theirs will be both inspiring and entertaining for the audience.”

Before their eventual team-up with Scooby and the gang, bright & optimistic Daphne and whip-smart & analytical Velma are both mystery-solving teens who are best friends but have only met online — until now. Daphne has just transferred to Velma’s school, Ridge Valley High, an incredible tech-savvy institute with all the latest gadgets provided by the school’s benefactor, tech billionaire Tobias Bloom. And while competition is fierce among the students for a coveted internship at Bloom Innovative, Daphne and Velma dig beyond all the gadgets and tech to investigate what is causing some of the brightest students in school to disappear — only to emerge again in a zombie-fied state.

“Daphne and Velma” is produced by Blue Ribbon Content and Blondie Girl Productions with Production Services provided by Lifeboat Productions Inc. Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical franchise), Jennifer Tisdale (Bring It On: In it to Win it), Amy Kim (Confess, Alive in Denver), Jaime Burke (The Pact) and Suzi Yoonessi (Olive and Mochha: First Kiss) serve as producers, with Yoonessi also directing from a script written by Kyle Mack & Caitlin Meares.