Deadline reports that the $30 million write-down on “Coyote Vs. Acme” was applied to Warner Bros.’ recent Q3 reports. What makes this news disappointing is that John Cena’s latest is was reportedly pretty good. Directed by Dave Green, the film followed Wile E. Coyote suing Acme over its faulty products. He recruits a lawyer, played by Will Forte, to go after the company, which is run by John Cena’s character. DC boss James Gunn produced the film.
“Coyote Vs. Acme” sounds like an absolutely chaotic piece of filmmaking and it did well in testing, getting rare above-average scores. The “Looney Tunes” flick even had a fan in “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” writer BenDavid Grabinski, who took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to gush about the shelved picture. “‘COYOTE V ACME’ is a great movie,” they wrote. “The best of its kind since ‘ROGER RABBIT.’ It’s commercial. It tested well. The leads are super likable. It’s beautifully shot. The animation is great. The ending makes everyone [expletive] cry. I thought the goal of this business was to make hit movies?”
Looks like we missed out on a winner. While the damage is done, it should be noted that Warner Bros. had buyers interested in the film — Deadline says Amazon was hoping to acquire the pic. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. didn’t think selling the film or marketing it for a theatrical release, was worth the hassle. Yes, Wile E. Coyote isn’t a blockbuster character, but it seems like “Coyote Vs. Acme” was a genuine knockout, and the box office has proven time and time again that audiences are willing to show up for interesting, genre-bending family films (cough, cough “Barbie,” “Elemental”).
“Coyote Vs. Acme” won’t be released.
