Just over a year after scrapping “Batgirl,” Warner Bros. and David Zazlav have killed off another nearly completed feature that was meant to be an HBO Max release and vaulted it instead. According to a new report, Warner has decided to cancel “Coyote Vs. Acme,” a live-action animated hybrid “Looney Tunes” film, ala “Space Jam,” that would have starred John Cena.
THR reports that principal photography on the film finished over a year ago, and the report follows executive Bill Damaschke taking over Warner Animation Group earlier this year.
“With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts, and crew and are grateful for their contributions to the film.”
“Coyote Vs. Acme” had big ties to Warner Bros. Its lead, John Cena, leads Warner Bros.’ “Peacemaker” show on HBO that is still set for a second season, and “Coyote Vs. Acme” was also produced by James Gunn, the director of “Peacemaker” and now the co-head of all DC superhero properties under the DC Studios banner.
Announced in December 2020 as a production for HBO Max— not-so-coincidentally the same month Disney Investors Days announced a rash of new projects, many of which on the Lucasfilm side never came to pass—it’s possible, much like “Batgirl,” and many of the issues we’ve seen with Marvel Studios TV, that ‘Coyote’ was rushed into production as the studio pivoted towards streaming once the pandemic re-injured theaters in the winter of 2020 (some theaters were open for the release of things like Warner Bros. “Tenent” during that time).
Then again, in many cost-saving measures, which is surely one of the main culprits here, Zaslav has killed off many an HBO show or WB-related project to help preserve the bottom line.
“Coyote Vs. Acme” once had a July 21, 2023 release date, but a trailer never surfaced. Anyone paying attention presumed the film was delayed, but now we know it’s just been scrapped; perhaps the new WB Animation chief weighed in on the decision, too.
The film was based on Ian Frazier’s “Coyote v. Acme,” a humorous article published by The New Yorker in 1990. Deadline reports the WB will take an estimated $30M write-down on the $70M production, which was applied to the recent rocky Q3 earnings reports.
Warners also shelved the $90 million “Batgirl” and the $40 million animated feature “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” in August 2022 as a tax write-down, so this is the third film the Zaslav-run WB has axed a feature in favor of saving a buck. However, “Coyote Vs. Acme” was reportedly completed and earned good test scores according to the trade, something that won’t make its producers and stars happy.
The strikes might be over, which may be a relief, but Hollywood will still feel those effects for months, if not years, to come.