Looney Tunes Movie Coyote vs Acme Expected to Be Destroyed Forever

Coyote vs. Acme, the Looney Tunes spinoff starring John Cena and Lana Condor, is back in trouble. The movie, which Warner Bros. Discovery had planned to scrap for a tax break, was saved after outrage from filmmakers and audience members on the internet. Only about a week after the initial cancellation, Warners announced that they would take offers from other studios to buy the movie, and the internet cheered. Now, though, it seems the offers all came up short of what Warner Bros. was hoping for and, barring a miracle, the movie is set to be shelved permanently and deleted.

According to TheWrap, the network turned down offers from Paramount, Netflix, and Amazon to buy the movie (with Paramount’s even including a theatrical release component). The report indicates that management lacks the will to keep going, and just wants to put the situation behind them. CEO David Zaslav has still not watched the movie at all.

The movie, which reportedly cost around $70 million to make, will net Warners between $30 million and $40 million in tax breaks if they write it down as a complete loss — the same move the studio used on completed or nearly-completed movies like Scoob!: Holiday Haunt and Batgirl. The studio wasn’t willing to part with the movie to a competitor for that same $40 million, though; according to TheWrap’s reporting, they wanted a minimum of $75 million.

This was a possibility we raised back when the movie was thought to be saved. Warner Bros. had already decided the movie wasn’t going to make its money back, so we suspected it was an uphill battle to get it released by someone else. After all, if it turned out to be a hit, it would be embarrassing for Warner Bros. If nobody was willing to pay $75 million, they can claim “See? It isn’t worth that.”

Insiders speculate that the end of the fourth fiscal quarter — coming later this month — is likely to serve as Warner Bros.’ excuse to finally drop the movie off the books for good. Moreover, they assume there won’t be any kind of announcement, and that the film will just be trashed and forgotten.

“For three years, I was lucky enough to make a movie about Wile E. Coyote, the most persistent, passionate, and resilient character of all time,” director Dave Green posted on social media back in November. “I was surrounded by a brilliant team, who poured their souls into this project for years. We were all determined to honor the legacies of these historic characters and actually get them right. Along the ride, we were embraced by test audiences who rewarded us with fantastic scores. I am beyond proud of the final product, and beyond devastated by WB’s decision. But in the spirit of Wile E. Coyote, resilience and persistence win the day.”