B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations

B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations was the title of American computer-animated supernatural action comedy film to be made by DreamWorks Animation. It is based on an original idea and directed by Tony Leondis. Tom Wheeler was said to be writing the script, with Maryann Garger as producer and Courtney Pledger as executive producing. The film would have starred Seth Rogen, Matt Bomer, Melissa McCarthy, Bill Murray, Octavia Spencer, Rashida Jones, and Jennifer Coolidge and would have been released on June 5, 2015 by 20th Century Fox, but on November 17, 2014 it was removed from DreamWorks Animation's release schedule with a replacement date yet to be announced. The fate of the film fell to “in development” status in a January announcement by Jeffrey Katzenberg regarding a reorganization of the studio schedule.

As of 2019, the film remains "in development" at DreamWorks Animation and it is unknown or unlikely if it will ever be released.

Plot
This supernatural action comedy follows two bumbling apparitions who find themselves in an extraordinary after-life adventure when they join the Bureau of Otherworldly Operations (B.O.O.) – the ghost world’s elite counter-haunting unit – and ultimately must face off against the planet’s greatest haunter.

Cast

 * Seth Rogen as Jackson Moss, a ghost agent at B.O.O.
 * Melissa McCarthy as Watts, a ghost agent at B.O.O.
 * Bill Murray as Addison Drake, a villainous ghost.
 * Rashida Jones as Moss' ex-wife
 * Matt Bomer as a new husband of Moss' ex-wife.
 * Octavia Spencer as Captain Book, a senior B.O.O. officer.
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Carol Sue, a transitions-relations officer.
 * Benjamin Stockham as Henry

Production
On May 28, 2009, DreamWorks Animation first announced plans for "Super Secret Ghost Project." Later in the mid-June 2009, it was reported that DreamWorks is developing the project as Boo U., Tony Leondis has been set to direct and Jon Vitti to pen the screenplay for the film, set to be released in the end of 2012. The story would follow a ghost who is bad at his job and must return to ghost school. Seth Rogen was reported in August 2010 to have joined the film as a voice of the lead character.

On September 9, 2012, film distributor 20th Century Fox set November 6, 2015 for the film's release date (which was moved a few months later up to September 25), this time as an original project by Leondis, titled B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, and written by Tom Wheeler. Later, in 2013, the film was rescheduled for release on June 5, 2015. On November 17, 2014, Los Angeles Times reported that the film had been delayed again, with no replacement release date set. Two sources were cited for the delay, with one saying that DreamWorks Animation's CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was not satisfied with the progress of the film, while another attributed the push-back to the competition of the films scheduled for the summer 2015, including Pixar Animation Studios' Inside Out. For the fourth quarter of 2014, the studio reported a $155 million write-off, primarily related to unreleased films, including B.O.O. and Monkeys of Mumbai. According to the studio's chief financial officer, Fazal Merchant, the film's concept has gone back to development and "it may come out later on, but if it does it'll be in a completely different form."

In January 2015, DreamWorks Animation announced the closing of their Redwood City, California studio, and the laying off of over 500 artists. As a result, B.O.O: Bureau of Otherwordly Operations has been dropped entirely from the production slate for the studio, and pushed back into an “in development” status.

Trivia

 * In 2015, Tony Leondis went to work with Sony Pictures Animation to work on his next film The Emoji Movie, about emojis, which was released on July 28, 2017 and was panned by critics and audiences alike, despite being successful at the box office, and damaged the reputations of both Sony Pictures Animation (until the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Tony Leondis.
 * Coincidentally, Jennifer Coolidge, who was going to voice Carol Sue in B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, went to voice as Gene's mother Mary Meh in The Emoji Movie.

Gallery
Coming soon!