MTVE Studios Not Moving Ahead With ‘Jodie’ Animated Movie; Will Redevelop Unscripted Show ‘Power Games’

EXCLUSIVE: So long for now to Jodie, an animated film-cum-Daria spinoff that was set to feature Tracee Ellis Ross voicing the main character.

The long-gestating project first began as a series that would feature Daria and Jodie, and then was narrowed to just focus on the latter character. In 2020, Comedy Central picked up the adult animated show from creator and head writer Grace Edwards and MTVE Studios with hopes to pair it with South Park.

Two years later, it morphed into a movie.

Daria ran for five seasons on MTV from 1997 to 2002 and began as a spin-off of the Beavis and Butthead franchise.

“Jodie will not be moving forward at MTVE Studios,” said an MTVE Studios spokesperson. “We have loved working with Tracee, Grace and the whole team on creating a film that is full of joy and genre-bending fun with an inclusive, diverse, and incredible cast.  We are fully supportive of them finding a home elsewhere and look forward to partnering with them in the future.”

The movie is based on Jodie Landon, Daria’s friend from the fictional Lawndale High, and picks up with her character graduating from college and heading to the big city for a prestigious internship at tech behemoth, Firstfinity.

In other developments at MTVE, the studio plans to redevelop Power Games, a social experiment series in which 13 strangers are given absolute power to control the lives of those around them, while competing for a cash prize. The unscripted project was first announced in 2022.