‘Stray Dogs’ Animated Horror Adaptation Reportedly Scrapped at Paramount

The planned feature adaptation of the acclaimed horror graphic novel Stray Dogs is reportedly no longer moving forward at Paramount Animation.

According to a fan who recently spoke with series co-creator Tony Fleecs at a comic convention, the writer confirmed that the long-in-development film “is not happening.” Paramount Animation has not issued an official press release regarding the quiet cancellation.

A “Silence of the Lambs Meets Lady and the Tramp” Concept

Paramount Animation originally acquired the film rights to Stray Dogs back in September 2020—months before Image Comics even launched the first issue of the comic series.

Created by writer Tony Fleecs and illustrator Trish Forstner (both veterans of IDW’s My Little Pony comics), the five-issue miniseries hooked readers with a deceptively adorable premise described by producers as “Silence of the Lambs meets Lady and the Tramp.”

Told entirely from the perspective of a group of dogs living under the roof of a sinister serial killer, the story paired Don Bluth-style classic animation character designs with a dark, uncompromising murder-mystery narrative.

High-Profile Horror Talent Behind the Scenes

When the project was first optioned, Paramount assembled a strong team to bring the dark animated vision to the screen:

• Gary Dauberman (It, Annabelle, Salem’s Lot) was attached to produce through his banner, Coin Operated.

• Mark Perez (Game Night) was tapped to write the screenplay.

At the time, Dauberman emphasized the unique horror appeal of using traditional animation styles for a terrifying story: “So much of what makes horror work is taking something innocent and twisting it into something scary… We want to take animation and twist it into something terrifying by using it to explore a really dark story.”

The Quiet Death of Risky Animated Feature Projects

While the adaptation appears to have quietly stalled out in development hell, Stray Dogs remains one of Image Comics’ most successful horror releases of recent years, expanding into a spin-off anthology, Stray Dogs: Dog Days, and earning nominations for prestigious comic industry awards.

Given Hollywood’s ongoing aversion to greenlighting adult-oriented, non-family animated feature films for theatrical release, the project’s quiet cancellation reflects a broader studio pattern of shelving dark or genre-defying animated IPs before they ever reach production.

Unless the creators re-acquire the rights to shop the property to streaming outlets like Netflix or Prime Video, the murderous mystery of Stray Dogs will remain strictly on the comic page.