Warner Bros. has canned yet another film. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news yesterday, much to the chagrin of John Cena’s loyal fans — sometimes called the “Cenation.” Within hours of the breaking news, fans had put together a petition demanding the Coyote Vs. Acme’s release.
The romp married CG animation and live-action in a style similar to Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and was based on a 1990’s New Yorker article. The plot centered on Wile E. Coyote who, after many years of bodily harm caused by Acme products, finally takes the company to court. Despite reportedly completing production more than a year ago, it’s been unceremoniously scrapped by Warner Bros.
Though fans mobilized quickly, it’s not likely to make the studio budge. Even with John Cena’s raw charisma, director Brain Duffield’s claim that test audiences loved the movie, and the film boasting a script co-written by studio darling James Gunn himself, we’ll likely never get the chance to watch the animated adventure.
Why was John Cena’s movie shelved?
Warner Bros’ reasons for shelving the film all point to its latest global strategy. The company is looking to focus on theatrical releases in the coming years, and hopes to release two films a year. It’s not the first time the company has rebranded. It started as Warner Bros. Feature Animation (1994-2004), then changed to Warner Animation Group (2013-2023). The latest iteration of the division, Warner Bros. Picture Animation, is headed by former Dream Works Executive Bill Damaschke, who was appointed back in June 2023.
In 2020, WAG embraced a streaming-first approach to help draw subscription numbers to the fledgling HBO Max. The shift meant fewer resources were going toward theatrical releases, and the studio only released one animated movie per year. The new WBPA aims to shift back toward theatrical releases in the post-pandemic days. Deadline reports that it’s similar across the board, with Sony and Universal executives pushing the idea that, in order to pierce the cultural zeitgeist in a meaningful way, a film must first be released in theatres. We’re a little confused about the reasoning here, many straight-to-streaming or conjunction releases have glued themselves to the public’s brains: Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, and Encanto!, just to name a few. But none of those releases came close to Top Gun: Maverick’s indelible public draw.
So how does this new approach force multiple multimillion-dollar productions down the toilet? Warner Bros likely didn’t see how Batgirl’s meager $90 million budget, Coyote Vs. Acme’s $70 million price tag, or Scoob: Holiday Haunt’s $40 million could match up against Marvel’s mega hitters like The Marvels’ $270-million-dollar one.
What it really comes down to is money. Each film Warner Bros. locks away in its vault gets Zaslav that much closer to taking a bite out of the company’s $3 billion debt, though it isn’t dollar for dollar. The company is likely only making back a fraction of what it spent, with only the first $15 million being fully deductible. Anything past that, and the company is taking a loss.
Cancelling movies left and right isn’t the only way Warner Bros is edging down the number. The massive slashes in the Max archives are another move the company is attempting. It tried to do the same with Turner Classic Movies (which is integral for preserving classic films) before a group of directors, led by Steven Spielberg, no less, pushed back.
Each piece of archived media is just another way Warner Bros. can cash in on tax breaks – and those dreaded residual payments that shut the industry down for more than 5 months (Zaslav says the company lost some $300-400 million due to protests). It’s hard to feel bad for the CEO when he makes $22 million in bonuses on top of his salary of $3 million.
Unlike those unlucky people involved in Batgirl and the Scoob! sequel, the crew of Coyote had some advanced notice before their production was shoved into a vault for good. Director Dave Green might not be happy with how it all played out, but he had this to say: “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.”
Here’s hoping Warner Bros. didn’t burn this bridge, and that Green eventually gets to catch his Roadrunner.