John Cena has been a part of several notable projects, and fans have turned out in the box office. Now, it appears that an upcoming film has been forcibly shelved by Warner Bros Discovery, and they aren’t letting it get out there.
The Saga of Coyote vs Acme
Last fall, Warner Bros. Discovery appeared open to the idea of allowing another studio to release director Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme after initially announcing intentions to “Batgirl” (i.e., cancel to claim tax write-offs) the nearly finished film in early November. Sadly, according to a new report, the studio turned down multiple offers that could have potentially brought the embattled project to fruition, with final decisions made by executives who had not seen the completed movie.
TheWrap reported that Amazon, Netflix, and Paramount expressed strong interest in acquiring the rights to debut Coyote vs. Acme after Warner Bros. reversed its stance and allowed the filmmakers to shop it around. Despite each studio submitting substantial offers for the rights to release the film, including Paramount’s proposal for a theatrical release, none of them met Warner Bros. Discovery’s $75 million asking price for the film, so it will remain unreleased.
WBD Rejected Counter-Offers
Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly outright rejected any counteroffers. Although the interested buyers’ offers were influenced by positive internal screenings of Coyote vs. Acme, none of the top Warner Bros. Discovery executives, including CEO/president David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation president Bill Damaschke actually saw the film. However, they all had a hand in rejecting the offers to sell it.
While this is a deliberate choice the company seems committed to, it may not inspire confidence among filmmakers still collaborating with the studio. Now, there is a fear that the studio may decide to take a movie and simply shelve it forever instead of releasing it, just so they can secure a tax write-off.
SE Scoops will have more updates on this story. Hopefully, Coyote vs Acme eventually sees the light of day.