This recent tax write-off bullshit needs to stop. How is this a thing only now or have we been missing out on decades of movies that were axed like this?
THEY WERE MAKING WHAT? AND THEY WONT FINISH IT?
What worries me more is just how many times this has happened, again and again.
This time, Warner Bros. Discovery shelved Coyote vs. Acme starring John Cena for a $30 million tax write-off.
Zaslav strikes again.
BOOM
You got Zaslav’d.
The film cost them $72 million to make, so this is a $42 million loss. If they actually released the movie they probably would have at least broke even. I have a hard time seeing it not making more than they just wrote off.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Director Dave Green confirmed that the nearly completed film will not be released shortly after Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter broke the news.
The film is inspired by the 1990 “Coyote v. Acme” humor article written by Ian Frazier for The New Yorker, which has Wile E. Coyote file a lawsuit against the Acme Company for the personal injuries and mental suffering he incurred while endlessly chasing the Road Runner.
As noted by Green, the film received “fantastic scores” from test audiences, something echoed by filmmaker BenDavid Grabinski, who co-created Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
The animation is great… What are we even doing anymore?” Cocaine Bear producer Brian Duffield similarly said the movie “is excellent” and called the people at Warner Bros.
What’s more, Zaslav’s decision to dump the film seems to directly contradict what he said during Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent earnings call, stating the company needs to bulk up its content load with “underused” franchises.
If Zaslav feels comfortable throwing away a nearly finished film attached to a historic piece of intellectual property, that means nothing is safe.
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