The lack of creativity combined with a fear of risk taking in Hollywood really has reached a new low, at least according to my grouchy opinion. According to Variety, a new “Tom & Jerry” movie is coming out. Why? Well it sounds like executives are lazy and feel like they’ve got something close to a sure thing, and they’re really risk-avoidant right now. And that chipmunk movie did well, so why not this one? And most importantly, it won’t take much work or thought on their part. And who wants to encourage creativity when you can recycle the same old crap over and over again for a decent profit?

Warner Bros. is turning to Tom and Jerry to create its own “Alvin and the Chipmunks”-like family franchise. Plans are to bring the constantly warring cat and mouse to life as CG characters that run around in live-action settings.

Studio-based Dan Lin, currently producing the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes” and exec producer on “Terminator: Salvation,” will adapt the classic Hanna-Barbera property as an origin story that reveals how Tom and Jerry first meet and form their rivalry before getting lost in Chicago and reluctantly working together during an arduous journey home. Eric Gravning is penning the script.

Warners owns the rights to Hanna-Barbera’s slate of popular animated properties and has several of them in development for bigscreen adaptation.

Interest in the new projects certainly ramped up after “Alvin and the Chipmunks” earned a whopping $360 million worldwide, besting even Fox’s predictions for the pic, which was budgeted at $60 million. A sequel was quickly greenlit, with the singing rodents skedded to hit the screen again in 2010.

Revenue potential from worldwide box office, DVD, games and merchandise sales, as well as the potential for sequels and earnings from TV and homevid spinoffs, is considered too good to pass up. The built-in familiarity of the characters has studio bosses feeling they’re not taking the kind of risk associated with creating a new property marketing mavens must promote from scratch.

“Tom and Jerry” originated as a series of 114 animated shorts, produced by MGM’s toon studio between 1940 and 1960, and won seven Academy Awards. New toons were produced after that, and Warner Bros. released “Tom and Jerry: The Movie” in 1992 as a feature-length toon.

[From Variety]

I love the line, “The built-in familiarity of the characters has studio bosses feeling they’re not taking the kind of risk associated with creating a new property marketing mavens must promote from scratch.” That pretty much says it all. Or to paraphrase, “We think we can sit on our asses and churn out absolute drivel and you’ll all pay to see the same old crap because you’re too stupid to demand something innovative.”

I love kids and most things related to them. In fact I’ve contemplated having one just so I can get into the Central Park Children’s Zoo. And to play with toys without looking like a moron. But I absolutely cannot sit through most “family friendly” movie fare. And this is a great example. Why not come up with a new concept? Pixar has made fabulous films that almost anyone would enjoy.

Why take the second most boring Looney Tunes characters (first would be the Coyote and Roadrunner – I’m still pissed about how much they suck) and waste and hour and a half of good people’s time? Seriously, movie execs – you have one of the coolest jobs in the world, with endless creative possibilities. Why consistently mess it up? I am angrily, contemptuously boycotting this movie, and all other reconstituted crap from now on.

Here’s a classic Tom and Jerry skit. I can’t bear to watch it.