It’s fascinating that a Looney Tunes movie has turned into one of the biggest entertainment stories as of late, but that’s where Coyote vs. Acme has found itself after months of controversy over its potentially scrapped release.
After news broke of Warner Bros. Discovery scrapping the finished film for a tax write-off and branding decision in November 2023, public outcry caused the studio to reverse its decision and allow the film’s creatives to shop it around to other distributors for a potential sale.
After all, it’s incredibly rare for a studio to completely shelve a completed film.
Inspired by the humorous New Yorker piece, the John Cena-led Looney Tunes, produced by James Gunn, project sees Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation after years of failed attempts at catching the Road Runner.
Will Forte and Lana Condor co-star in the film directed by Dave Green (Earth to Echo) and written by recent Oscar nominee Samy Burch (May December).
At word of its initial cancellation, Green expressed his hope the film would still see the light of day.
“I am beyond proud of the final product, and beyond devastated by WB’s decision,” he said. “But in the spirit of Wile E. Coyote, resilience and persistence win the day.”
However, some time has passed, and The Wrap shared on Friday that the film still may wind up being shelved as Warner Bros. Discovery is alleged of not budging off its selling price despite multiple reported offers from other studios like Amazon and Paramount.
Deadline added that the film’s fate is not fully sealed and that a sale could hypothetically still happen, but that it’s very possible Coyote vs. Acme could go the way of previously scrapped Warner Bros. Discovery films like Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt.
However, the public outcry reignited once The Wrap‘s explosive report came out, with plenty of notable creatives and movie fans calling on Warner Bros. Discovery to do the right thing and make sure Coyote vs. Acme reaches audiences one day rather than disappearing into the void of corporate accounting.
If you could see COYOTE vs. ACME you’d know how funny it would be for this to end with a congressional hearing.
— Phil Lord (@philiplord) February 10, 2024
Is it anticompetitive if one of the biggest movie studios in the world shuns the marketplace in order to use a tax loophole to write off an entire movie so they can more easily merge with one of the other biggest movie studios in the world? Cause it SEEMS anticompetitive.
— Phil Lord (@philiplord) February 10, 2024
COYOTE VS ACME is an awesome movie that also made me cry and I hope people get to see it.
— BenDavid Grabinski (@bdgrabinski) February 9, 2024
My heart goes out to everyone who worked on COYOTE VS ACME – everyone who had hoped their work would see the light of day & bringing audiences joy. It’s clear the powers that be at Warner Brothers weren’t actually invested in finding a new home for this creative endeavor. https://t.co/FB9XpFO3CN pic.twitter.com/azQUuf8Lv6
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) February 9, 2024
#CoyoteVsAcme is about a giant corporation choosing stock over empathy, doing nothing "illegal" but morally shady stuff for profit. It's a David vs Goliath story. It's about the cynical and casual cruelness of capitalism and corporate greed.
No wonder Warner doesn't want to… pic.twitter.com/ck0JSdGLFt
— Carsten Kurpanek (@Kurpanek) February 9, 2024
WB used to have a really great rep as a home that supported film makers and if they really just bin a finished film like #CoyoteVsACME I think they are actually binning something way more serious long term in the creative community that’s value far exceeds a $35m tax write off.. https://t.co/ibNMoM1gqf
— Daniel Pemberton (@DANIELPEMBERTON) February 9, 2024
At the moment, four of the top of the "trending" X topics are "Coyote Vs Acme," "Batgirl," "Warner Bros." and "David Zaslav." I get (and almost agree with) the $$ situation, but if part of a stock price is about narrative and "feelings," this can't be helping. https://t.co/SYpqU63K4P
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) February 9, 2024
serious proposal: we find 8 million people willing to put up $10 each and we just buy this movie outright https://t.co/gaOJ0ZDGfo
— Adam Sternbergh (@sternbergh) February 9, 2024
This is artistic malpractice as well as pure financial stupidity, and it should be illegal. https://t.co/BkgaKLSYWm
— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) February 9, 2024
Absolutely devastating read. Save Coyote vs Acme https://t.co/97xxm3z3Kn
— Esther Sokolow (@esther_sokolow) February 9, 2024
put it on Vimeo, I’m sure 15 million ppl would pay $5 to watch it. https://t.co/rgkLpefnsW
— Laurie Kilmartin (@anylaurie16) February 9, 2024
It’s been 90 days since the shelving/un-shelving of this film 🎞️ I am still very hopeful we see this movie on the big screen where it belongs, in the near future 🍿🎥🦊🪧🧨💣🧲💥 #ReleaseCoyoteVAcme pic.twitter.com/lt5rgD6Xgl
— Eric Bauza (@bauzilla) February 7, 2024
