As internet backlash once again made Warner Bros. cave to another decision? Only time will tell, but the heated decision by the studio to trash the completed Coyote Vs. Acme and use it as a tax write-off could be reversed in the coming weeks.
Per Puck News, WB will now reportedly allow the filmmakers to shop the $70 million-budgeted live-action/CG animation hybrid feature. This would allow potential distributors to acquire and release the title either theatrically or direct-to-streaming.
The film’s cancellation comes after last year’s infamous shelving of Batgirl and the animated Scoob Holiday Haunt!. Batgirl had finished filming and was in post-production when it was cancelled, but the Scoob! sequel was, like Coyote Vs. Acme, fully completed.
The outlet does indicate that despite the reports of stellar test screenings and a warm reaction online, Coyote Vs. Acme “actually didn’t test that well,” and the studio was worried about another underperformance for the brand. Following some rough DCEU releases and Space Jam 2 failing to connect with fans, the studio didn’t want to take another loss. At least now, fans and critics may be able to judge for themselves, with Warner Bros. seemingly giving the power back to the audiences and filmmakers.
Among the cast were Will Forte (MacGruber), John Cena (Peacemaker), and Lana Candor (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before), with Forte as Coyote’s lawyer and Cena as ACME’s former boss. David Green (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) directed the film, with a script by Samy Brunch, Jeremy Slater, and James Gunn.
The official logline said the film would follow “Wile E. Coyote, who after ACME products fail him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Roadrunner, decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the ACME Corporation. The case pits Wile E. and his lawyer (Forte) against the latter’s intimidating former boss (Cena), but a growing friendship between man and cartoon stokes their determination to win.”
