Coyote vs. Acme Cancelled By WB May Go To Streaming Service (2 Viewers)

[Garysb]

This completed film was supposed to get a theatrical release but WB cancelled to take a $30 million tax write off. Happy 100th Anniversary Warner Bros

‘Coyote Vs. Acme’: Warner Bros Setting Up Screenings For Streamers Of Axed Looney Tunes Film; Amazon A Prime Candidate – The Dish

Coyote vs. Acme: Warner Bros Showing Pic to Amazon, Apple For Acquisition

deadline.com

‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ Composer Steven Price Slams Warners For “Bizarre Anti-Art Studio Financial Shenanigans” Over Pic’s Axing; Director Dave Green Is “Beyond Devastated”

Coyote vs. Acme composer Steven Price has blasted the David Zaslav cost-cutting Warner Bros Discovery administration for axing the Looney Tunes hybrid live-action animated film. Price, who won an o…

deadline.com

‘Coyote Vs. Acme’: Warner Bros Shelves Finished Live-Action/Animated Pic Completely As Studio Takes $30M Tax Write-off

Warner Bros has completely shelved finished movie 'Coyote vs. Acme' to take $30M tax write-off. The Looney Tunes animated live action movie won't be released

deadline.com

 

[Malcolm R]

Seems kind of foolish when it sounds like there's interest from others. They can do like Paramount who has sold films to Netflix or Prime for a one-year exclusive (likely for more than $30 million), then they release the film themselves on home video.

 

[SD_Brian]

Coyote Vs Acme? Was this to be an Erin Brockovich-esque courtroom drama?

Edit: Just read a plot description and turns out that is pretty much the synopsis.

 

[Radioman970]

Coyote Vs Acme? Was this to be an Erin Brockovich-esque courtroom drama?

these incidences would have whoooole lot of witnesses.

 

[Baenwort]

So is this like Batgirl and gone forever?

 

[Edwin-S]

So is this like Batgirl and gone forever?

I would say yes. They are getting a 30 million dollar tax credit for killing this film, so I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Zaslov gets a quick shot on the bottom line for killing other people's work. He is doing whatever it takes to get that fat bump to his bonus, even to the point of making a content company contentless.

 

[darkrock17]

WB owns Looney Tunes though, they have final say on all completed projects; they took the tax write off as they know the movie sucks and is not worth spending more money marketing it.

 

[B-ROLL]

WB owns Looney Tunes though, they have final say on all completed projects; they took the tax write off as they know the movie sucks and is not worth spending more money marketing it.

...and yet they still released WW1984 ...

 

[darkrock17]

...and yet they still released WW1984 ... View attachment 203753

DC sells better than Looney Tunes apparently. The pandemic caused all 2020's release dates to be pushed back later and later in the same year with many ultimately being pushed into 2021.

 

[Garysb]

Unlike Batgirl this is a completed film . Per the articles I posted above and the thread title. Warner Bros may sell the film to a steaming service like Prime. Apparently the creative community was unhappy a completed film was being dumped. Also this is the 3rd film Warner Bros has done this to recently. Beside Batgirl there was also the animated "Scoob Holiday Haunt!"

Considering there is going to be a shortage of new films in 2024 due to the strikes this seems very odd even if the film isn't as good as Space Jam .

 

[Edwin-S]

WB owns Looney Tunes though, they have final say on all completed projects; they took the tax write off as they know the movie sucks and is not worth spending more money marketing it.

You have no credible evidence that WB thought the film "sucked". Zaslov and his cronies canceling the film for a quick buck is not evidence that the film "sucked". The only thing the cancelation suggests is that WB, under Zaslov, has decided that they are not a content business, just an accounting firm.

 

[Edwin-S]

I just read an article from Variety, on the Microsoft News feed, that WB is letting the filmmakers shop the film around to the various streaming services.

 

[Malcolm R]

They say the completed film tested "in the 90s" which is apparently fairly rare, so it doesn't seem like it "sucked".

Warner Bros. Reverses Course on ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ After Filmmakers Rebel

The move gave some creatives pause: "I don’t know how you see the movie and then go, 'That couldn’t happen to me.'"

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[TravisR]

I just read an article from Variety, on the Microsoft News feed, that WB is letting the filmmakers shop the film around to the various streaming services.

A rare instance of the internet being used as a force for good. Zaslav and Warners took enough of a public beating that they had to change their mind. I don't care if this is literally the worst movie ever made, it doesn't deserve to be deleted so some scumbag executive like Zaslav can make more money.

Beyond the public humiliation over the weekend, they must have been shocked to find that other people in the industry suddenly lost interest in working for a (now) terrible company like Warners. When Zaslav might destroy a movie after people spend a couple years of their life on it, why would anyone with the ability to work for any other studio ever go to Warners? And furthermore, how can Warners be so stupid as to not understand that would be the outcome.

 

[Malcolm R]

Exactly. If creative folks have any possible option for their future projects other than Warner, they should take the alternative. Warner is proving to be extremely hostile to filmmakers and other creative support.

If the new team at Warner felt this strongly about the film, the time to pull the plug would have been when they took over and canceled the Batgirl and Scooby-Doo projects. Not waiting until the film is completed, testing well, and ready for theaters.

 

[Garysb]

Yes the film is being shopped to other studios and wont be a Warner Bros Tax write off.

Warner Bros. Reverses Course on ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ After Filmmakers Rebel

The move gave some creatives pause: "I don’t know how you see the movie and then go, 'That couldn’t happen to me.'"

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Interestingly, the plot of Coyote vs. Acme follows the speechless, ever-determined Wile E. Coyote as he teams up with a lawyer (Forte) to fight the big ACME corporation. Just like in the cartoons, Coyote buys ACME devices to try and kill Road Runner, but they never work properly, and often abruptly explode. The third shelved Warners movie, in other words, is the story of an underdog taking on a heartless company whose executives don’t realize there can be real consequences to making their products blow up in your face.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I would love to see it be a huge hit for whoever picks it up.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Given that the Looney Tunes brand is so associated with WB, I'm genuinely shocked that they would rather give this film away to another studio than reverse course and put it out themselves.

James Gunn has a story credit on this, and he is one of their high-ranking executives in charge of another one of their cornerstone properties. If they're willing to throw away a movie that he was involved in, that doesn't send a great message to other filmmakers.

If I had a film and an equal opportunity to get a movie set up at either WB or another studio, I'd probably pick the other one. That's a ridiculous hypothetical for me, but might not be for some other filmmakers looking for a studio partner.

 

[TravisR]

If I had a film and an equal opportunity to get inset up at either WB or another studio, I'd probably pick the other one. That's a ridiculous hypothetical for me, but might not be for some other filmmakers looking for a studio partner.

Barring an ironclad clause in their contract guaranteeing a wide theatrical release, anyone with another option would be a fool to choose Warners now. And at that point, why would anyone want to work for a company where you have to get a guarantee that they don't erase your movie for a tax break? If I was a major stockholder of WB, I'd sell it all now before Zaslav could do any more damage to the company's reputation with filmmakers and the public.

 

[Sam Favate]

I’m going to make it a point to see this in the theater now.