A member of the crew has shared the “COYOTE VS ACME” crew reel, which was shelved in order to claim a $30 million tax write-off.
John Cena starred in the James Gunn-cowritten movie, which has wrapped its filming.
In the planned Looney Tunes-inspired comedy Coyote vs. Acme, which included well-known actors including John Cena, Will Forte, and Lana Condor, the company has entirely shelved a finished picture, according to Deadline. Let’s see if this makes sense: the company apparently wants to deduct the project from its taxes in order to save $30 million of the $70 million budget for the movie.
Coyote vs. Acme joins the shelved Batgirl adaptation and the animated spinoff Scoob Holiday Haunt! as recent Warner Bros. projects that have gotten completely scrapped despite being largely completed for alleged tax incentives.
The feature, which sources believe cost around $72 million ot make, had key Warners talent involved in front of the camera and behind the scenes. It stars John Cena, who starred in Max’s popular DC show Peacemaker and who is due to return for the second season. And DC Studios co-head James Gunn produced the feature and worked on the story. Warners is intent on staying in business with filmmaker Green and is developing a project at sister movie arm New Line Cinema.
Shelving Batgirl had the weak excuses of a full DC universe reset and allegations of poor test scores, which Deadline, shared did not befall Coyote vs. Acme as the film reportedly tested well for audiences. Making it even stranger is the fact that new DC co-head James Gunn both produced and received a story credit on the now-axed Looney Tunes project.
Gunn’s DC co-head Peter Safrin defended the move to put the largely completed Batgirl away in the vault, but we can’t imagine either of them would be thrilled with shelving a completed film Gunn worked on.
Now, a third Warner Bros. film will never see the light of day, allegedly so Warner Bros. Discovery can save a little bit on taxes. “With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts, and crew, and are grateful for their contributions to the film.”
The previous Warners regime greenlit the movie in December 2020 as a production for HBO Max, its fledgling streaming service. It later announced that Coyote would get a release on July 21, 2023. No trailer was ever released for the film, leading to questions about the studio’s intentions for the project. In April 2022, Warners removed the feature from its release calendar, putting Barbie on its July 21 release date.
