Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has become something of a reviled figure for axing near-completed movies, explaining why we'll never get to see the likes of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt.
However, the backlash to the decision to scrap the live-action/animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme has been considerably more vocal. We've heard nothing but good things about the movie, but even after being pressured to offload it to another studio or streamer, WBD seemingly ensured the price tag was high enough that no one would be willing to buy it. Why? Well, they've already taken a $70 million writedown on it!
While Warner Bros. Discovery might have decided it's not worth marketing Coyote vs. Acme for theaters or putting the movie on Max, star Will Forte has now broken his silence (via Toonado.com) and made his feelings known on the entire situation.
"I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie," he said in a lengthy statement on Instagram. "And sadly, it’s a looking like you never will." Explaining that he hadn't seen the movie before it was "deleted," Forte added, "So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk. But then I saw it. And it’s Incredible."
"Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way," he added. "As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?"
"Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don’t know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit," Forte said of the movie which also stars John Cena and Lana Condor. "And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it."
"It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fu**king hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent."
After being criticised by filmmakers like Phil Lord & Chris Miller and Guillermo del Toro, Warner Bros. Discovery acquiesced and put Coyote vs. Acme up for auction. While rival studios put up bids between $30 million - $50 million, none would match the $70 million that tax write-off provides.
As a result, we don't expect this movie to ever see the light of day. Stay tuned for updates.