Warner Bros. is gearing up for a live-action/CGI big screen adaptation of the long running cartoon, Tom and Jerry, and the studio has interest in some big name talent.

We have learned that Warner Bros. has interest in and has met with Zoey Deutch (Set It Off) for a role in the upcoming production. The studio is also very interested in Olivia Cooke, who they are high on after starring in Ready Player One last year.

Whoever the studio decides on they would be taking the role of Kayla, who teams up with Tom to stop the pesky Jerry from ruining an important event for herself.

Other names we have learned are on the shortlist for the role include Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish), Kelly Marie Tran (The Last Jedi), Becky G (Power Rangers), and Isabella Moner (Dora The Explorer).

Tim Story (Fantastic Four, Ride Along) is on board to direct and is written by Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano (duo behind The Peanuts Movie), and Kevin Costello (Brigsby Bear). Production expected to begin this June in London, with hopes to wrap some time in mid to late September.

Tom and Jerry do not speak in the cartoons and that will be the case in the upcoming movie too, which means that there is going to have to be a lot of physical comedy that they became famous for.

Back in January, concept art was leaked for the film that pictured Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role. Studios will often create concept art featuring actors they have interest in. With the studios’ interest in
Deutch and Cooke, it is safe to assume Lawrence passed on the project if approached at all.

Created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1940, Tom and Jerry began as a series of brief shorts spanning 7 to 10 minutes. Hanna and Barbera continued to make Tom and Jerry shorts for MGM from 1940 to 1958, creating over 100 shorts in total. Tom and Jerry continued to be made, even after Hanna and Barbera departed MGM with one of the most notable adaptions headed by animator Chuck Jones. Shorts, series, and direct to video animated films have been released to this day

Tom and Jerry is aiming for a 2020 release date.