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[ManaByte]

The Final Days of ‘Coyote vs. Acme': Offers, Rejections and a Roadrunner Race Against Time | Exclusive

Warner was seeking of $75 – $80 million for Coyote vs Acme nd rejected offers from Netflix, Amazon and Paramount, insiders tell TheWrap

www.thewrap.com

Following the death and potential resurrection of “Coyote vs. Acme,” there were screenings for interested parties. According to several people familiar with the situation, Netflix, Amazon and Paramount screened the movie (which was received well) and submitted handsome offers. Paramount even proposed a theatrical release component to their acquisition of “Coyote vs. Acme” that would allow for Warner Bros. to save face and, more importantly, let audiences see the movie the way it was meant to be experienced.

But Warner Bros., which stood to make $35 – $40 million on the tax write-down, wanted something in the ballpark of $75 – $80 million from a buyer. And what’s more, they wouldn’t allow the interested studios to counter Warner Bros.’ offer. It was a “take it or leave it” situation, one that the other studios didn’t even know they were entering into, insiders told TheWrap.

Zaslav never saw the movie at all. De Luca and Abdy saw a “director’s cut,” and Damaschke saw the first audience preview. Significantly, “Coyote vs. Acme” was developed and greenlit by a previous regime; the only executive that worked on the movie that is still at the company is Jesse Ehrman. These executives, who trumpet a filmmaker-first approach and have recently signed big deals with directors like Ryan Coogler and Paul Thomas Anderson (who conspicuously made their deals after the filmmaker-led backlash to Warner Bros. had subsided), were apparently prepared to trash a movie that they’d never even watched.

 

[AJUMP23]

What a terrible way to do business.

Why not just use it to fill a gap in streaming if you want to claim a loss with it.


Someone needs to leak that Batgirl movie and this.

 

[ManaByte]

Someone needs to leak that Batgirl movie and this.

They can't. WB deleted it. It's gone. Destroyed.

 

[Stitch]

 

[AJUMP23]

They can't. WB deleted it. It's gone. Destroyed.

Someone could go recover the hard drive.


Is there only ever one copy of the digital film? There has to be a duplicate out there.

 

[IDKFA]

WB are doing this a lot recently. What happened to that Salem's Lot adaptation that's been finished for over a year?

Sounds like an insurance scam.

 

[Dural]

I want Scoob 2 too!

 

[Ownage]

Tax writeoff. As if they need one that badly.

 

[Kilau]

Seems like the IRS should step in and tell them no tax write off if they are able to sell the movie for even a small profit. Who am I kidding, big companies control the tax system while small companies and middle income people live in fear.

 

[Neon Xenon]

Not that WB was ever some kind of shining beacon in my eyes (it's a large media company, hating them should be the default stance), but  man. They are not lacking in reasons to hate them lately. Even most of their media output is easy to dunk on.

 

[jason10mm]

I feel like we are seeing more and more projects with these HUGE budget numbers but absolutely shoddy production quality that suggests to me stuff is getting made that can be released OR binned for a tax write-off and the studio still comes out ahead. This tax thing really needs to be written out of law, just insane that a company can make something, decide it sucks, and then write it off. Why can't I go to a job, decide it sucks, then write off the income from said job, year after year?

 

[Werewolf Jones]

It would've made more than Blue Beetle.

 

[dorkimoe]

this is one of those things that everyone is upset about but I can promise you half the upset people weren’t gonna go see it. It’s just like people crying for games they want sequels to when the first one sold like ass

 

[K' Dash]

this is one of those things that everyone is upset about but I can promise you half the upset people weren’t gonna go see it. It’s just like people crying for games they want sequels to when the first one sold like ass

I wouldn't have gone to the movies to see it. I would definitely watch it on Netflix with my daughter.

 

[touchfuzzy]

I think it'll be funny if all this drama goes through and they finally go "FINE HERE IS THE MOVIE" and it's terrible and loses them more money than taking the tax write-off.

Like, let's be honest, it sounds like a terrible idea and nobody cares about Looney Tunes in 2024. This was gonna bomb. It's just now turned in to a poster child for big bad movie companies doing movies dirty, lol.

 

[StueyDuck]

Ok fiiine I'll publish it... how does $100 sound?

 

[LordCBH]

Fuck ALL the way off, Warner.

 

[Valonquar]

But what about the new Thunder Gun sequel?

 

[Jsisto]

So if I spend all my life savings on some kind of venture and then decide it isn't worth it I can write it off on my taxes? Fucking bullshit that corporations can just do this.

 

[Kenpachii]

Did the movie ever exist?

 

[YCoCg]

Did the movie ever exist?

It stars John Cena, of course it'd become the biggest movie you can't see.

 

[Blade2.0]

I would have absolutely seen this if it had good reviews. People fucking loved Barbie too

 

[Rentahamster]

America's tax system is a joke if it incentivizes behavior like this. This isn't healthy capitalism.

 

[TransTrender]

Sounds about right for these fart breathing retards.
Good luck hiring talent from here on out.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

They can't. WB deleted it. It's gone. Destroyed.

They did not. They have to try to sell it, which they half arsed did, to credibly write it of regarding taxes and not be investigated.
WB might still be investigated for the tax write off.

 

[ManaByte]

They did not. They have to try to sell it, which they half arsed did, to credibly write it of regarding taxes and not be investigated.
WB might still be investigated for the tax write off.

I was talking about Batgirl, not Coyote vs ACME. WB deleted Batgirl entirely as if anyone were to ever leak it, they'd be in trouble for the tax write off they did.

 

[nkarafo]

Corporations really care about the preservation of art, don't they.

 

[TheDreadBaron]

What a horrible thing to do to all the artists that labored over this movie, after all that work they're just gonna shoot it in the back of the head and bury it in the desert. They're not satisfied profiting off the exploitation of the artists' work, they're going to profit from the art's destruction, warming their servants quarters with the bonfire.

 

[Artoris]

WB are doing this a lot recently. What happened to that Salem's Lot adaptation that's been finished for over a year?

Sounds like an insurance scam.

"Sounds like an insurance scam"

this is probablly the onlly way they can make money these days

 

[Husky]

I was talking about Batgirl, not Coyote vs ACME. WB deleted Batgirl entirely as if anyone were to ever leak it, they'd be in trouble for the tax write off they did.

Can you share a source for that? I'm having trouble finding any articles mentioning this.

 

[BlackTron]

this is probablly the onlly way they can make money these days

Other than releasing movies, maybe!