An Extensive Look at Warner Bros Discovery’s Decision to Cancel, then Un-Cancel, Upcoming Coyote vs Acme film, By RJ Writing Ink
Since its merger with Discovery in spring 2022, Warner Bros. has been hemorrhaging its customers’ and fans’ trust and faith. It shut down movies that were near completion for the sake of tax write-offs. Cartoon Network Studios moved out of its famous office, a move that devastated its fans. It purged streaming of popular animated series to the point that it’s now barely possible to watch them legally. Then, last week, Warner Bros. seemingly bit off more than it could chew. Now, trust in them is at an all-time low, and the company might be in trouble with the US Government. And it’s all thanks to an unlikely hero and the fight to have his movie see the light of day: Wile E. Coyote.
It’s about time that Wile E. gets a win under his belt.
Wile E. Coyote Takes Acme Corporation to Court and It Rules
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner have been part of the iconic pantheon of Looney Tunes characters for over seventy years. The luckless villain keeps trying to catch his nemesis using an array of products from the Acme Corporation. However, they never worked and caused him great pain. In the film Coyote vs. Acme, Wile E. decides enough is enough and sues Acme for all the pain they’ve caused him.
While I only found out this film existed a few days ago, the premise intrigues me. I’ve had a soft spot for the designated villain for his sheer drive and determination, and seeing him get an actual win under his belt makes me happy. In addition, not only was this film an animated/live-action hybrid like Roger Rabbit and the Space Jam films, it had a solid cast. Will Forte’s playing the equally luckless lawyer helping Wile E. take ACME down, while meme-legend John Cena’s playing the role of ACME CEO.
Despite all these things going for it, though, on November 9th, Warner Bros. Discovery announced they’d be shelving Coyote vs. Acme as a tax write-off even though the film was already finished and ready to be released in theaters. However, events would quickly show them that this was a big mistake.
David Zaslav’s Poor Decision-Making is Hurting Warner Bros, Exhibit A
After the merger with Discovery in April 2022, it was announced that David Zaslav would serve as the newly-christened Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO. It did not take long for Zaslav to become hated by people in the entertainment industry.
The Warner Bros.-Discovery merger left the former deep in the red and desperate to find a way to recoup their losses. The solution they came up with was scrapping films and projects for the sake of tax write-offs. The films Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt got the axe despite the former being in post-production and almost finished. They were both casualties of a lack of money.
David Zaslav’s Poor Decision-Making is Hurting Warner Bros, Exhibit B
Then, Zaslav earned the ire of fans of animation with the Great Purge of HBO Max. In a matter of weeks, dozens of shows got purged. Some of the most significant casualties included hundreds of episodes of Sesame Street, Final Space, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, J.G. Quintel’s Close Enough, and worst of all, the critically acclaimed Infinity Train. To add insult to injury, the company went so far as to remove any trace or reference to Infinity Train from YouTube and social media. At the time of this writing, it and other popular shows like OK KO aren’t even available on digital retailers anymore. The only way to watch them is by getting the physical copies or outright pirating them.
In a detailed post on his blog in August 2022, Infinity Train’s creator, Owen Dennis, explained how he never got a warning about the Purge. No one was, and they failed to get any answers from the higher-ups. In an update a few days later, he called the entire situation “straight up slimy.” While he didn’t outright encourage people to do so, he did point out that if the entity that owns it prohibits the ability to legally access a piece of media, piracy might be the only option to keep it alive.
Can Warner Bros be Trusted?
What made the situation surrounding Coyote vs. Acme worse is the implications its shelving had for Warner Bros. Discovery. In January 2023, various media outlets reported the company’s CFO saying they were done purging projects for write-off purposes. Months later, they did it again. While this decision could be because someone felt they had no choice, it paints WBD in a very negative light. Not only were they willing to cancel content they already spent millions on and purge shows from digital streaming, but they were willing to go back on their word. In other words, they look like liars.
The worst aspect of this initial decision, though? By most accounts, Coyote vs. Acme is a good movie. In various test screenings, the movie got ratings in the upper 90s. Various other creators in Hollywood had nothing but praise for the film. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the brains behind Clone High, The LEGO Movie, and Into the Spider-Verse, gave it high marks on Twitter.
The producer of The Martian and Deadpool had this to say about it.
To recap everything, Warner Bros Discovery had a well-received film, cost $70 million to make (and did it on its budget), and was all ready to go. Despite this and promising not to do it again, the company tried to shelve it as another tax write-off. They tried to save money at the expense of the people who worked hard to make it.
Little did they know, they made a big mistake.
It was at this moment that WB Knew…they Messed Up.
This decision was the last straw for those in the entertainment industry and those who follow it online. Everyone was outraged. Fans of the Looney Tunes and animation were outraged at this perceived injustice. The cast and crew that had spent months of their lives working on the film were outraged. All the ill will against WBD from 2022 boiled over. According to an article from The Hollywood Reporter, filmmakers went so far as to tell their reps to cancel meetings with Warner Bros.
Ultimately, the overwhelming amount of backlash seems to have worked. Earlier this week, Warner Bros announced they would not be axing Coyote vs. Acme. Instead, they’ll allow director Dave Green the chance to sell the film to other distributors. However, the damage’s already done. Warner Bros Discovery has seemingly shown a willingness to disregard the hard work and effort of the people creating the media that it then sells to the public. They went back on their decision to axe projects for tax purposes. Worst of all, they made it nigh-impossible for fans to enjoy shows that were proven successful legally. That’s even. Now, their actions might land them in hot water with the Government.
US Congressman Calling for a Federal Probe
In April 2023, four members of Congress wrote to the Department of Justice asking them to open an investigation into Warner Bros Discovery’s post-merger practices. They argue that the company’s actions have harmed consumers and those working in the industry by limiting the competition. In the wake of the Coyote vs. Acme frenzy, one of those Congressmen, Joaquin Castro, said this.
What this means in a nutshell is that if the DOJ follows through on this proposal, Warner Bros could be in big legal trouble at a time they can ill afford it.
Coyote vs. Acme is now Life imitating Art.
A little more than a year ago, I made my disdain for the way David Zaslav’s been running Warner Bros. Discovery known. Since I didn’t know much about it, I tried not to let the news about Coyote vs. Acme get to me. However, after learning everything available about it, my opinion of Zaslav only worsened. Warner Bros keeps making all the wrong choices and treating the people who poured their heart and soul into the stuff that makes the company money like they’re nothing. Rather than backing down, though, people are banding together to let WBD know that they won’t be allowed to get away with this. Hopefully, other media giants will notice what happened here and think twice about how they treat the people who make their content, or this might happen to them.
As for the movie itself, now that I know about it, I’m going to want to watch it. Coyote vs. Acme already has an interesting premise behind it. Now, the ongoing story around the efforts to get it out into the world is just as enjoyable. He might be a villain, but Wil E. Coyote deserves to win for once. If all goes well, he’ll be the one who took on the Warner Bros and won.
