By Last year, Warner Bros. Pictures abruptly shelved its completed “Coyote vs. ACME” project in November for an approximately $35 million tax write-off.
The studio scored a major backlash, especially from the film community, for the decision. Within days, they changed course with the filmmakers reportedly allowed to shop around the $70 million-budgeted live-action/CG animation hybrid feature to other potential distributors.
The studio received various offers but seemingly didn’t approve of any of them. When Warners announced a $115 million content write-down on its earnings call last week, it was widely speculated a good chunk of that belonged to “Coyote vs. ACME”.
In an X post this morning, the film’s leading man Will Forte has now out about the status of the project and it doesn’t sound good:
“I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s a looking like you never will. So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk. But then I saw it, And it’s Incredible.
[It’s] super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?
Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit. And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I f—– hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.
You would be so proud of it – a movie that should be seen, but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.”
“Coyote vs. Acme” now marks the third film since the Warner Bros. Discovery merger to get shelved following “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” – all three lost to CEO David Zaslav’s cost-cutting measures as the studio shifts gears.
The film would’ve seen Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote hiring an unlucky human attorney to sue the ACME Corporation for defective product injury after so many of their products have backfired on him over the years in his pursuit of the Road Runner.
The project completed principal photography in 2022 in New Mexico and starred Forte as the attorney and John Cena as the head of ACME. DC Studios co-head James Gunn produced and “Earth to Echo” helmer Dave Green directed from a script by Jon and Josh Silberman.
The post Will Forte Speaks About “Coyote vs. Acme” appeared first on Dark Horizons.
