Warner Bros. did it again. A little over a year after the studio shelved Batgirl, a new John Cena movie has suffered the same fate. Coyote vs. Acme, a hybrid live-action animated film that pitted the wrestler against the iconic Looney Tunes character has been locked in the WB vault.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coyote vs. Acme had already completed the filming. However, like Batgirl, that couldn’t save the Cena film from Warner Bros. and its newfound semi-habit of taking a tax write-off on projects greenlit before the studio’s merger with Discovery:
The previous Warners regime greenlit the movie in December 2020 as a production for HBO Max, its fledgling streaming service. It later announced that Coyote would get a release on July 21, 2023. No trailer was ever released for the film, leading to questions about the studio’s intentions for the project. In April 2022, Warners removed the feature from its release calendar, putting Barbie on its July 21 release date.
Warner Bros. released the following statement to justify its decision to tank a whole entire movie starring John Cena that was already finished.
“With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts, and crew, and are grateful for their contributions to the film.”
According to Deadline, Amazon and other streamers were interested in picking up the film, which reportedly received positive test scores, but ultimately Warner Bros. chose a $30 million write-off.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline)
