John Cena
Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photobank via Getty Images
A little more than a year after the cancellation of “Batgirl” caused an uproar in Hollywood, Warner Bros. is putting another of its films in the studio vault.
Warners no longer plans to release Coyote Vs. Acme, a live-action-computer-animation hybrid that wrapped filming last year in New Mexico. The move follows veteran animation executive Bill Damaschke’s acquisition of Warner Animation Group earlier this year.
“With the relaunch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a spokesperson for WB Motion Picture Group said in a statement. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs. Acme. We have great respect for the filmmakers, cast and crew and are grateful for their contribution to the film.”
The feature featured key Warners talent in front of the camera and behind the scenes. It stars John Cena, who starred in Max’s popular DC series Peacemaker and will return for the second season. And DC Studios co-head James Gunn produced the feature and worked on the story. Directed by Dave Green. Warners is keen to stay in business with the filmmaker and is developing a project at sister film division New Line Cinema.
The former Warners regime gave the film the green light in December 2020 as a production for HBO Max, its fledgling streaming service. It was later announced that “Coyote” would be released in theaters on July 21, 2023. A trailer was never released for the film, leading to questions about the studio’s intentions with the project. In April 2022, Warners removed the feature from its release calendar and moved Barbie’s release date to July 21.
The film is based on Ian Frazier’s “Coyote v. Acme,” a humor article published in the New Yorker in 1990.
Warner Bros. Animation aims to release about two films per year, with upcoming projects including Locksmith Animation, Bad Fairies and The Lunar Chronicles in development. There are also several adaptations of Dr. Seuss in the works, including “Cat In The Hat” and an animated musical adaptation of “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” Sources say Damaschke is trying to shift Warner Bros. Animation’s focus to purely theatrical fare, with the goal of producing both original films and films based on the studio’s intellectual properties, including Looney Tunes, of which Wile’s family of animated characters is E. Coyote is part.
Warners produced the $90 million film Batgirl and the $40 million animated film Scoob! a. Holiday Haunt in August 2022 as a tax write-off, with Warner Bros. Discovery’s newly installed CEO David Zaslav seeking to achieve $3 billion in savings at the newly formed media conglomerate. Both Batgirl and Scoob! were intended for streaming, with Zaslav also changing his strategy in favor of theatrical releases. The move sparked an outcry in the creative community.
In this case, sources say the studio at least informed the filmmakers of the decision in advance.