CAN WE TALK A BOUT?
COYOTE VS. ACME THE LATEST FILM TO BE WRITTEN OFF BY WARNER BROS.
On paper it looked like a sure thing: take established Looney Toons character Wile E. Coyote, give him a new story worked on by James Gunn and starring John Cena, then let him loose in a Roger Rabbit-esque meta-mash-up of animation vs. live action. Test audiences certainly thought so, with Dave Green’s film receiving positive scores, according to reports. And then, out of nowhere, the project got shelved.
The move by Warner Bros. Discovery prompted widespread dismay, with Green posting on Twitter/X that he was ‘beyond proud of the [film], and beyond devastated’ by the decision. The studio initially defended kiboshing Coyote in order to secure a $30m tax write-off, having made similar moves with Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt last year. However, they had perhaps underestimated the backlash.
‘FOLLOWING THE OUTCRY, THE STUDIO HAVE SINCE RELENTED’
‘I don’t know how you see [Coyote vs. Acme] and then go, “That couldn’t happen to me”’, said Brian Duffield, the writer-director behind streaming hit No One Will Save You, and a friend of Green who gave notes on the film. And he’s not alone in that sense of trepidation, with The Hollywood Reporter noting that numerous creatives apparently cancelled meetings with Warners in the wake of the film being nixed.
What’s baffling is that although Batgirl was allegedly not very good – studio exec Peter Safran commented that despite ‘there [being] a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera… that film was not releasable’ – Coyote came in on budget and with test scores in the 90s (similar to Best Picture winner Argo).
Following the outcry, the studio have since relented and are allowing Green to shop the film around potential buyers, meaning Coyote will hopefully bounce back (something that seems only fitting for a toon the director describes as the most ‘resilient character of all time’). However, despite this reversal, the question remains as to the reputational damage Warner Bros. Discovery, under CEO David Zaslav have inflicted on themselves. And after this, as well as their recent rollback on gutting TCM – following pressure from directors such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson – whether or not Warners can be regarded as a safe place for filmmakers remains to be seen.