Warner Bros shelves finished Wile E. Coyote feature film as tax write-off

[Mister Six]

Coyote vs. Acme was finished, tested really well and was all good to go.

Now Warner Bros, under chief cunt David Zaslav, have stuck it in the vault as a tax write-off. Friend of mine who moves in film journo circles says the people he knows who had seen it gave it rave reports.

I genuinely hope Zaslav shits his own spine out.

Directed by David Green and written by May December scribe Samy Burch, as well as DC Studios co-boss James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, Coyote vs. Acme is based on the Looney Tunes characters and the New Yorker humor article "Coyote v. Acme" by Ian Frazier. Will Forte, John Cena and Lana Condor star in the movie which follows Wile E. Coyote, who, after Acme products fail him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Roadrunner, decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation. The case pits Wile E. and his lawyer (Forte) against the latter's intimidating former boss (Cena), but a growing friendship between man and cartoon stokes their determination to win.

... Coyote vs. Acme is a completed movie with very good test scores, 14 points above the family norm. We're told that the cash-strapped Warners finds that it's not worth the cost to release the film theatrically or to sell to other buyers (and there are parties who are interested for their own streaming services; we hear Amazon kicked the tires). After reporting a mixed third quarter, the best means for Warners money is a tax write-off. At one point, Coyote vs. Acme was dated for theatrical release on July 21, 2023, before getting pulled; that date was taken by Barbie, which went on to become Warner Bros' biggest hit of all-time at $1.4 billion worldwide.

More here.

[Petey Pate]

This film had been in various stages of production hell for years. I suspect that its troubled history played a part in the decision to can it, despite the positive reception in test screening.

Obviously I've not seen it but it does sound like a one joke premise that works fine as a humorous piece, but not a feature length film. The original Roadrunner cartoons were only 6-7 minutes long for good reason. 

[Brundle-Fly]

The original Roadrunner cartoons were only 6-7 minutes long for good reason. 

Originally, a one off to parody chase-cartoon characters like Tom and Jerry, they became popular in their own right. I suppose that makes Itchy & Scratchy almost a parody of a parody.

[bgmnts]

Will go out on a limb and say Wile E. Coyote is the best thing Warner Bros ever did, and it still makes me piss myself laughing, but yeah I doubt a film of him would work.

[Mister Six]

The film's not just 90 minutes of Wile E. Coyote falling into canyons - he "decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation" and "the case pits Wile E. and his lawyer (Forte) against the latter's intimidating former boss (Cena)".

But the point, is that regardless of the quality of the film, surely it's outrageous for a studio to take years of hard work by skilled professionals and lock it away forever in a vault so they can claim it as a tax write-off?

Imagine spending years of your life shepherding a film to completion only for it to be shut away, never to be seen, so that David Zaslav can get a bigger end of year bonus.

[Mr Vegetables]

This is obviously depressing news, but it's still fun to imagine it as a fourth-wall breaking move from the Acme Corporation to settle the lawsuit once and for all

[Goldentony]

picture John Cena's face during this news event

[Sebastian Cobb]

How do these rules work, I understand these write-offs can never be released once it happens?

If that's the case the process should have the works public-domained for the public good. Fuck it, make the pricks hand them to the Internet Archive or something.

[Petey Pate]

I read the plot description. I stand by my thought that it seems like a flimsy premise for a feature film. Which incarnation of the coyote are they using? Either the mute version who pursued the Roadrunner or the verbal 'super genius' who was Bugs Bunny's adversary doesn't really seem sustainable for a 90 minute story.

Obviously however good or bad the film is doesn't excuse the bizarre business decision to shelf it. I'm prepared to be convinced otherwise about the premise but would at least like the opportunity to see it.

[Blumf]

A fair few valid productions have been written off for tax reasons recently. Are we seeing a loophole that needs closing?

[beanheadmcginty]

I just don't understand how locking something away is more financially beneficial than releasing it and having it earn a steady stream of money for the next 50 years. Even if it's not a massive success, surely that income adds up.

[Sebastian Cobb]

My guess would be due to how hollywood accounting tries to make sure no film really makes a profit on paper a junked movie can have massively inflated costs that syphon cash out and the funds can be recouped from a picture that overshot the accounting forecasts maybe.

[Dex Sawash]

Will add this to my annual search for availability along with the day the clown cried

[13 schoolyards]

It seems like at least part of the problem is that the films getting locked away forever were made for a niche - franchise films that were designed to go direct to streaming, being not quite good enough (in marketing terms) for a cinema release - that Warner Bros no longer has. I guess they don't think these films would make enough money back in cinemas, and they're not in the "streaming only" movie business any more so there's no home for them there either, so taking the sure-fire tax break money is probably the safe bet.

Plus they were widely seen as the studio that fucked it all up during Covid by putting a years worth of cinema releases direct to streaming, pissing off Christopher Nolan so much he took Oppenheimer to Universal and trashing their reputation as pretty much the last studio that gave a shit about what directors wanted. So burying all these "not quite" movies might also be a way for them to show they're all in on big budget cinema releases again (while still fucking over the people who made these smaller films, but welcome to Hollywood)

[Brundle-Fly]

The lawsuit plot seems a bit like Seinfeld's Bee Movie (2007).

[kalowski]

I would watch 90 minutes of Wile E. Coyote falling into canyons.

[Petey Pate]

I've posted about this before, but this Roadrunner cartoon has one of the most perfectly timed gags in the history of animation and comedy. It's sublime and never fails to make me laugh. I can't timestamp the video but it involves an elaborately constructed chute.

https://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/257/road-runner-zoom-and-bored.html

[kalowski]

It won't show me the clip but the first image is of the ACME Batman suit which is one of the most glorious moments in Roadrunner history. Up there with the earthquake pills so I'm genuinely excited about seeing (and hopefully remembering) the clip you are talking about.

[Dex Sawash]

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2u9ndo

Zoom and bored is on daily motion. Chute gag 4ish minutes in. I like the harpoon gag where coyote refuses to release the rope too.

[Blumf]

I would watch 90 minutes of Wile E. Coyote falling into canyons.

In super slow-mo, like at the end of Dredd

[kalowski]

Perfect. There's a whole series of gags based around that catapult too which are just incredible.

[madhair60]

who gives a shit. it would have been bollocks. i'm glad that they shelved it

[Petey Pate]

Perfect. There's a whole series of gags based around that catapult too which are just incredible.

The short that revolves around the catapult is called To Beep or Not to Beep. Earthquake pills are in Hopalong Casualty. Pretty much all of the Chuck Jones directed shorts are very good, though the pacing in some of the later entries is a bit belaboured. The less said about the cheaply produced Rudy Larriva cartoons the better.

In the 'compilation' feature film The Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Movie there's an extended roadrunner segment using clips from various shorts that actually gets fairly tedious being nearly 20 minutes long. It's one reason why I don't think a feature film would work.

[kalowski]

Isn't it odd that the Chuck Jones directed Roadrunner cartoons are marvelous but he created some dreadful Tom and Jerry shorts.

[madhair60]

Isn't it odd that the Chuck Jones directed Roadrunner cartoons are marvelous but he created some dreadful Tom and Jerry shorts.

i love his Tom and Jerry shorts. He should never have been on that series, but the super stylised look of the cartoons really elevates them. There's something, you know hauntological about them. Bleak, frightening, but so cool to look at.

[Mister Six]

Ooh, hold on, what's this? Courtesy of (per my film journo friend) reasonably reliable insider Pick:

I'm told Warner Bros. will now let the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme shop the movie to other potential distributors. That's a big about-face from earlier this week, when Warners said that the long-finished $70 million Looney Tunes film, directed by Dave Green and starring John Cena, Will Forte and a C.G.I. Wile E. Coyote, would be shelved indefinitely, à la the infamous Batgirl and Scoob! sequel.
Warners declined to comment, but a good source tells me the decision was made this weekend by Warners film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, along with new animation head Bill Damaschke, after the online outcry by filmmakers and the animation community, as well as some heated back-and-forth between the studio and reps for the director and stars. Warners had agreed to pay the top talent their streaming bonuses despite the film being scrapped, but obviously, everyone involved in this project wants it to be released by someone.

Coyote vs. Acme is another sign of these weird times, one of those caught-in-the-middle-of-two-strategies movies that was greenlit by Toby Emmerich back in December 2020, when the mandate from WarnerMedia leadership was to make as much product as possible for streaming, cost be damned. When current C.E.O. David Zaslav took over, $70 million direct-to-Max movies went bye-bye, so Warners pivoted to theaters. But some internally questioned whether the film played theatrically enough. Contrary to Green's claim on social media that the film "was embraced by test audiences who rewarded us with fantastic scores," it actually didn't test that well, I'm told. And Damaschke, who is formulating his own strategy for Looney Tunes, feared the brand damage of an underperforming film, especially on the heels of Space Jam: A New Legacy grossing only $163 million worldwide. So they scrapped it. Another source who's seen the movie said it's definitely good enough to take a swing in theaters, but Warners is understandably gun-shy these days, given its financial situation.

On that point, these whackings of finished films invariably get chalked up to "tax" savings, but there's actually not that much benefit to the company. I'm no tax avoidance expert, but everyone I've talked to on this subject has said that it's basically a question of when the losses on a film are taken. Maybe scrapping Coyote will accelerate a possible deduction, which is beneficial for a company like Warner Bros. Discovery that is drowning in debt now, but it's not a big benefit, maybe in the single-digit millions. In other words, not something Warners would do if its executives believed in the film.

But maybe some other studio or streamer will take the risk, so Warners is gonna help the filmmakers test the market. I'm not sure how many buyers there are for a $70 million live-action/CGI hybrid Looney Tunes movie. And Warners, already fearful of brand damage, probably won't take a $50 million loss in a deal just to make John Cena happy, though the studio is in business with him on The Peacemaker and other stuff. But at least now Warners is giving its creatives the chance. And if no buyers emerge, De Luca, Abdy, and Damaschke can at least say they let them try.

Interesting that the sources can't agree on how well it tested though.

[surreal]

WB have announced a Bugs Bunny movie in the same style too - possibly they thought this would have a bigger audience.  The new distributor should release RR the same weekend and market the shit out of it just to fuck with WB

[Ignatius_S]

Ooh, hold on,

Interesting that the sources can't agree on how well it tested though.

Thanks for posting about the stories. Interesting stuff.

With regarding the tax write-off in this latest article, there can be definite benefits in being able to pick when this is done, particularly when trying to juggle other financial issues and write-offs. Without additional information, it's hard to assess this - but even with that, a layperson isn't necessarily likely to make a good call!

Regarding test scores, these are not always straightforward and I'm not surprised how there might be disagreement. A little while ago, I was looking at academic research into the creation of mechanisms for market research and their execution. There can be a minefield about how these are constructed and how results can be interpreted. When I was also looking at Cinemascore on an unrelated matter, I found some very interesting information. One was that there could be discrepancy between how a film had scored and how it would actually do did, and the possible reasons.

There was someone posting on Reddit that was looking at this for every film year by year, and provided information about how it the films actually did.  They gave an interpretation of how each grade should be seen as. In the case of a B+ grade, which sounds pretty good, they suggested that this can be 'who knows' type of result and they summarised it as when an audience doesn't love it but doesn't hate either. It was claimed that some films, particularly more niche ones, they can do well but for IP-driven ones, there should be alarm bells. As Cinemascore surveys people on an opening night, you're likely to get people who like the IP and consequently are more prone to score it higher than a non-fan, skewering the results.

From the information being presented that seemed be pretty on the money. One reason I was checking this was looking at Super Mario Brothers (the Bob Hoskins version). When that came out, about 30% of films that year got a B+ grade but how they actually did, varied considerably. SMB flopped (as did Coneheads) but Groundhog Day and The Firm did great business.

Obviously, Cinemascore wouldn't be used for this (and also, although the overall grade is made public, the company provides studios with a lot of information that remains private) but I did think it was a decent example of where something may look good, but can be deceptive.

[superthunderstingcar]

who gives a shit. it would have been bollocks. i'm glad that they shelved it

Good point, considering how bad a lot of the films they actually do release are.

[BritishHobo]

Warner Bros have backed down and now won't shelve the film.