WB (Zaslav) cancels another completed film Coyote vs ACME for a tax write-off, despite glowing test screenings

Revolutionary

Revolutionary

Member
A courtroom Looney Tunes comedy starring John Cena and co-written by James Gunn would easily make more than $30M in the long run but Zaslav would rather just take the $30M tax write-off so he can receive his yearly bonus... what a waste. Batgirl's write-off was understandable (reportedly had disastrous test screenings), but this is just perplexing, and a lot of creatives seem to be upset about it on Twitter.








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I'm starting to feel like this entire DC/Max thing is just a GIANT troll for a mockumentary. How can streaming be so unprofitable that NOT releasing stuff is the only way to make money?
 
Must be infuriating busting your ass on a project for months or years, only to have some rich asshole use your work as a tax write-off for their own benefit.
 
Meicyn said:
Must be infuriating busting your ass on a project for months or years, only to have some rich asshole use your work as a tax write-off for their own benefit.
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And with hollywood accounting not paying you well as no film means no reason for any kind of bonus.
 
Daneel Elijah said:
And with hollywood accounting not paying you well as no film means no reason for any kind of bonus.
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Sadly this is probably true. I'm not sure of all the stipulations in the latest round of strike agreements, but wouldn't surprise me to see the studios lean on legacy media with fewer residuals than new stuff that costs them much more. Why make something new if you can convince folks to sub to watch Friends for the 5th time?
 
nkarafo said:
Ok, if it exists someone will leak it right?
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John Cena Reaction GIF by WWE
 
At what point does the SEC start to question the accounting here. I feel like if you did all the work to make a finished product that is easily distributed without additional financial burden, you don't get to cancel it for convenience.

It's not like a car prototype, where the initial investment is nothing compared to making it accessible to customers.
 
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Revolutionary said:
A courtroom Looney Tunes comedy starring John Cena and co-written by James Gunn would easily make more than $30M in the long run but Zaslav would rather just take the $30M tax write-off so he can receive his yearly bonus... what a waste. Batgirl's write-off was understandable (reportedly had disastrous test screenings), but this is just perplexing, and a lot of creatives seem to be upset about it on Twitter.





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Nothing new, we all know Zazzy is a psychopath.
 
Doesn't make any sense to throw a finished movie in the trash can when there's an enormous movie/tv show drought coming on in 2024 because of those months' long writers and actors strikes.
 
Majima Everywhere System said:
At what point does the SEC start to question the accounting here. I feel like if you did all the work to make a finished product that is easily distributed without additional financial burden, you don't get to cancel it for convenience.

It's not like a car prototype, where the initial investment is nothing compared to making it accessible to customers.
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Yeah, it's shady. Disney removing Willow from Disney+ was even crazier. How do you factor the write off value of something that's already been on your streaming service for months?
 
Dural said:
Scooby Doo and Krypto Too was cancelled then leaked, Scoob Haunted Holiday was also cancelled but hasn't leaked yet.
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Damn! I don't like Krypto. I might have watched Haunted Holiday though... These cancelations of completed products with no additional production cost are so strange to me.
 
bitbydeath said:
How do these tax write-offs work exactly?
There's no way this would have cost anywhere near 30M to make.
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I can put a value on anything I want. It's the responsibility of the government and the courts to argue and prove that I'm wrong. Until then, game on, because that's the game.
 
What a retarded decision.
What sense does it make to not release a finished movie? Literally throwing money away. Just sell it to Netflix or something.
 
Someone ELI5 please?

They made a movie. Paid the actors etc. And it cost x amount.

How does not releasing it create financial benefit for someone?
 
sankt-Antonio said:
Why? Everyone got paid for the work they did. Without risk of bad reviews and a stain on their resume. If it where me I would love to work on this free from public scrutiny for the work done.
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Creative people want their hard work to be seen, not erased as if it never happened.
 
wvnative said:
Creative people want their hard work to be seen, not erased as if it never happened.
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Creatives are used to not seeing their designs see the light of day (product design being one example) the process needs to be fulfilling and fun. At least that's how I would feel.
 
ManaByte said:
Actually the directors of Batgirl said WB deleted the movie from the servers.
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I read that as well, but I also read some people interpret it as though their access to the servers was revoked, not that all files were outright deleted. Time will tell, I suppose.
 
I'm more upset that we would have potentially had a film where the two main characters didn't talk and would thus give you all of the emotional moments through their actions.

The idea itself sounds artistically risky and I would have been all for it.
 
I'm all for free markets but at some point the government needs to get involved for the sake of arts.

If they want the tax write off, fine, but they have to release all the media related to the project and make it public domain.
 
wvnative said:
Creative people want their hard work to be seen, not erased as if it never happened.
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Uh huh. So lets take a look at the movie and tv show scene. You call that shit creative? (Mostly talking about writers)

Im sure these people are crying into their piles of money as they whine about how their creativity has been hidden from the world.

Does them a favor actually, they keep getting hired for work because if some of the crap got released to the public they might never get hired again.
 
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