Oh, boy. After “Batgirl,” here comes another already-completed, $70 million film being shelved by David Zaslav and Warner Bros.
Warners no longer plans to release “Coyote Vs Acme,” a live-action, CG animation hybrid that had completed principal photography almost a year ago. The film, produced by James Gunn, starred John Cena, Lana Condor and Will Forte.
Deadline reports that Warners will get a $30 million tax write-off for shelving “Coyote Vs Acme”’ The film is said to have had very good test scores. A WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement (via THR):
With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases. 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. There has been no promotional material released for the film. The budget for “Coyote Vs Acme” is said to be around $70 million.
Last November, Warners had shelved the $90 million “Batgirl” and then the $40 million “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” in August 2022 as tax writedowns. All of these movies will never be seen, they’ve been destroyed for tax purposes.
Their destruction was just the start as reports have emerged that Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav wants to write off between $2 billion — $2.5 billion worth of content in the next quarter.
The folks over at Warner are calling these actions “pre-tax restructuring charges.” You see, they are $3 billion in debt, and their stock is plummeting — what better way to cut losses than to forever shelf completed TV shows and movies.
They want to lock these projects up, never to be seen again for tax exemption purposes. It’s an interesting strategy, make movies and never show them again.
