The shelved Coyote vs ACME film may see the light of day after all. Amid industry outcry that WB was shelving yet another film, the studio has begun screening the movie for streaming services. Deadline reports that Prime Video seems to be the frontrunner as far as acquiring the movie goes. The shelving of the completed film has spurred lots of anger within the industry, as unlike the previously shelved Batgirl or Scoob’s Holiday Haunt, Coyote Vs ACME was complete and scheduled for a theatrical release.
Not only that, but reports suggest that the film was testing very well, with composer Steven Price roasting the company on Twitter for their “bizarre anti-art studio shenanigans.”
Had a lot of fun scoring Coyote Vs Acme. As no-one will be able to hear it now, due to bizarre anti-art studio financial shenanigans I will never understand, here is a bit of behind the scenes footage of our “Meep Meep” Roadrunner choir, with apologies to Tchaikovsky… pic.twitter.com/HL7h00rXpp
— Steven Price (@SteveBPrice) November 10, 2023sponsored content
The decision to axe the film is considered extra bizarre given how evergreen a property the Looney Tunes have always been. Many are taking issue with the fact that WB’s David Zaslav seems so eager to shelve movies due to the fact that they may underperform at the box office. Indeed, Coyote vs ACME seems like a solid bet, and even if WB didn’t want to commit to a theatrical release, they could have at least released it to MAX. Many are worried about the studio’s long-delayed Stephen King adaptation, Salem’s Lot, which, at best, seems destined for MAX, although a complete shelving doesn’t appear to be out of the question.
It used to be exceedingly rare for completed movies to be shelved, with one notable example being Jerry Lewis’s infamous The Day the Clown Cried. Now, movies are being taken out of circulation even after they come out, with WB consigning many of their HBO Max films, such as Doug Liman’s Locked In and Seth Rogen’s An American Pickle, to a kind of streaming purgatory. Hopefully, the outcry around Coyote Vs ACME encourages studios to end this practice once and for all.
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