Warner Bros. confirms 'Scoob' and 'Finding The Way Back' will go straight to digital in the UK

After Scoob! and Finding The Way Back disappeared from the release calendar in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Warner Bros. has announced the UK release plan for the two titles.

Despite cinemas beginning to reopen on 4 July, the films will forego a theatrical release and now come straight to digital rental on 10 July. Both films will be available to watch instantly for 48 hours from participating digital retailers.

The coronavirus pandemic played havoc with the movie release schedule since it closed cinemas around the world min-March. Many films including Black Widow, Wonder Woman 1984, and No Time To Die delayed their releases to later in the year, some like Trolls World Tour and The High Note decided to skip a traditional release and went straight to PVOD (premium video on demand), but some films just simply dropped off the UK release calendar altogether.

Read more: Films coming to cinemas in 2020

Scoob! and Finding The Way Back both fell into that final camp. The animated Scooby Doo reboot was set for a theatrical release on 15 May, but was instead released on digital in North America that day instead. Scoob! is now available to stream to subscribers of HBO Max in America.

Gavin O’Connor’s sport drama Finding The Way Back starring Ben Affleck (known in North America as The Way Back) was released in American cinemas on 6 March and was due in cinemas here on 16 March, before Warner Bros. pulled it from the release calendar. The studio put the film out on PVOD in America on 24 March, but it has remained unavailable here in the UK.

According to the press blurb, Scoob! “reveals the never-before-told story of Scooby-Doo’s origins. The film shows how one of history’s most famous friendships began when an adorable, homeless puppy met a lonesome young boy named Shaggy, and how the two of them joined forces with aspiring young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to become the celebrated Mystery Inc.”

Ben Affleck won critical acclaim for his performance in Finding The Way Back, in which he stars as “Jack Cunningham who back in High School had everything going for him. A basketball phenom, he could have punched his ticket to college or even the pros, but, instead, he chose to walk away from the game, forfeiting his future.”