Tom and Jerry Race Back to Theaters — Find Out When the Classic Duo Hits the Big Screen

Yep, Tom and Jerry are back—and this time, they’re not just whacking each other with frying pans in a living room. Their next big-screen adventure, Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass, is officially set for a U.S. theatrical release and the setup is... let’s just say, more off-the-wall than usual.

New York Museum Mayhem (And Then, Something Way Weirder)

Here’s what we’re dealing with: Tom and Jerry, still at each other’s throats, tear through NYC’s Metropolitan Museum in an especially fast-paced chase. Instead of getting yelled at by a security guard like the rest of us, they end up triggering a 'mythical compass' (since that’s totally a thing you’d find at the Met), and this kicks open some sort of time-travel portal. Next thing you know, they're dropped into an ancient city that’s apparently been lost for ages—a bit of a leap for a cat-and-mouse duo, even by cartoon standards.

Of course, nothing is ever simple for these two:

• Jerry quickly finds himself mixed up with a sleazy crime boss.
• Tom, meanwhile, gets mistaken for a literal divine messenger (imagine that).
• Basically, if they want to survive this fever dream, they’ll have to stop their endless rivalry and actually work as a team for once—though I’m not holding my breath.

Who’s Behind This and When Can We See It?

Let’s talk release dates and the people steering the ship. Forbidden Compass will land in U.S. theaters on September 9, 2026. If that seems far away, well, it is—but that’s because the movie is premiering in China first, in August 2025. After that, it’ll make its way stateside, presumably once all the dust settles overseas.

Oddly enough, it looks like Tom and Jerry won’t be competing directly with any massive franchise debuts that weekend. Don’t worry, September 2026 is still jammed with other big releases—stuff like Sandra Bullock’s Practical Magic 2, a new Shaun the Sheep film, and something called Forgotten Island. (Honestly, good luck to the compasses and the magic sheep.)

The movie itself is Warner Bros.-approved and comes out of the Warner Bros. China pipeline, with Blossoms Entertainment in Beijing handling development and sales. The film runs 94 minutes (so, standard cartoon epic length), is rated PG, and is written/directed by Gang Zhang. Producers on board include Chen Bofei, Ruoqing Fu, Jasmine Gao, Shaojing Yang, and Huixia Zhang. The characters are, of course, the classic Hanna-Barbera duo we all know.

Still Classic, Now With Bonus Time Portals

So, in summary: Tom and Jerry are getting flung out of New York and into a lost civilization, with a magical artifact at the center, ancient crime lords, and mistaken identities all in play. Honestly, if you’d told me this was the next step for America’s favorite cat and mouse, I wouldn’t have believed you—but here we are.

As Warner Bros. puts it:

'When legendary rivals Tom and Jerry collide during a high-speed chase through New York’s Metropolitan Museum, they unleash a mythical compass, opening a vortex that hurls them into an ancient, dazzling metropolis lost in time… To survive, Tom and Jerry must outsmart their enemies and finally work together to make it home.'

Mark your calendars for 2026—if you’re into slapstick cartoon legends journeying through time and space. Or if, like me, you just want to see which ancient civilization Tom manages to completely destroy in 94 minutes flat.