Warner Bros. Shopping Shelved Coyote Vs. Acme Movie To Streamers - Report

Screenings are underway this week for Amazon Prime, Apple, and Netflix to assess the possibility of acquiring Warner Bros' discarded Looney Tunes film, Coyote Vs. Acme, as reported by Deadline. The studio faced criticism over the weekend following the similarly abrupt cancellations of Batgirl and Scoob Holiday Haunt last year.

Unnamed sources suggest that Amazon is a "leading contender," due to the apparent influence of Courtenay Valenti, the head of film, streaming, and theatrical at Amazon Studios and MGM. Valenti, previously at Warner Bros as president of production and development, is reportedly playing a pivotal role in championing the now-dropped movie.

With the actors' strike concluding and a demand for content from both streaming platforms and theatrical schedules, the decision to leave a finished film like Coyote vs. Acme unused, resulting in a $30 million write-off on the $70 million production, was characterized as "bizarre anti-art studio financial shenanigans" by the film's composer, Steven Price. You can check out more of his reaction on X (formerly Twitter) above.

Upon learning of the film's cancellation, many others also turned to X to express their disappointment. Filmmakers who had early screenings of Coyote vs. Acme praised it, with BenDavid Grabinski, co-creator of Scott Pilgrim, going so far as to label it (via IGN) "the best of its kind since Roger Rabbit."

Announced in 2022, Coyote vs. Acme is co-written by James Gunn and features John Cena. The movie centers around Wile E. Coyote, and explores his legal battle against the Acme Corporation over its faulty products.