Daniels calls on Warner Bros boss David Zaslav to release Coyote Vs Acme, and “pretend this was all brilliant viral marketing”.
Pressure continues to grow on Warner Bros to find a way to let the film Coyote Vs Acme be seen. The fate of the movie at the moment looks grim: last year it was reported that the studio was simply planning to junk the film, and to write it off against tax.
For the studio, that means it’ll get some of its $70m investment in the production back. Directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch, the live action/animated hybrid film is not short of star power, with John Cena and Will Forte heading the cast list.
For them, and the other creatives, it’ll mean their film is basically deleted: should it leak out, Warner Bros would presumably have to repay its tax write off.
The studio already has form here, with pretty much completed movies Batgirl and Scoob: Holiday Haunt both trashed, and never allowed to see the light of day.
The studio this time has faced enormous pressure to not let Coyote Vs Acme suffer the same fate. So much so that the studio at once point looked as though it’d reversed its decision, and was listening to offers for the film. That process looks to have to an unsuccessful conclusion, and Warner Bros is again apparently set to take a very anti-film path, and press that delete button.
Yet the pressure continues, aided by the fact that some filmmakers have seen the film. The latest to add their name to the list? Daniels, the Oscar-winning director duo behind Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Via whatever Twitter calls itself at the moment, Daniels put out the following post…
Laughed so much at this weird ass movie. Then with the added context of WB shelving the film, I found myself crying by the emotional end.
— DANIELS (@Daniels) February 12, 2024
Zaslav, just sell it / release it and pretend this was all brilliant viral marketing. https://t.co/IGvZSBQiiI
It’s unclear whether this is a battle lost, or if filmmaker pressure can yet turn the tide. After all, Warner Bros will still want filmmakers to consider the studio for their films: deleting completed movies is a pretty terrible look.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more. We’re not hopeful, but still: hopefully, common sense will prevail at some point.
