Will Forte posted a note to the cast and crew of “Coyote vs. Acme,” four months after Warner Bros. shelved the Looney Tunes comedy after filming was completed.
Warner Bros. opted to take a $30 million tax write-off instead of release the film, then later announced it would let the filmmakers shop “Coyote vs. Acme” to other distributors. The film has not been sold.
“To the Cast and Crew of ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ — I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s looking like you never will,” Forte wrote in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter. “When I first heard that our movie was getting ‘deleted,’ I hadn’t seen it yet. So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk. But then I saw it. And it’s incredible.”
Forte, who starred in the movie as Wile E. Coyote’s lawyer, continued, “Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?”
“Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don’t know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit,” he added. “And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fucking hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.”
Forte concluded, “You would be so proud of it — a movie that should be seen, but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.”
“Coyote vs. Acme” was originally slated for release on July 21, 2023, before Warner Bros. removed it from its release schedule and replaced it with “Barbie.” The studio announced in November that it had no plans to ever release the movie, a $70 million live action-animation hybrid also starring John Cena and Lana Condor. The news followed Warner Bros. axing two other completed films for tax purposes — the DC superhero flick “Batgirl” and the kid-friendly “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.”
All three of the shelved films were greenlit under the studio’s former boss, Jason Kilar, and two of them, “Batgirl” and “Scoob,” were made for HBO Max. Kilar’s successor,Warner Bros. DiscoveryCEO David Zaslav, has shifted the studio’s priorities back to theatrical and a spokesperson previously indicated that movies didn’t fit with the new creative direction of the company.
“Coyote vs. Acme” director Dave Green previously took to social media to lament the studio’s decision to cancel the film, writing, “Along the ride, we were embraced by test audiences who rewarded us with fantastic scores. I am beyond proud of the final product.” The screenplay was written by “May December” scribe Samy Burch, and the film was also set to star P.J. Byrne, Tone Bell, Martha Kelly and the voice of Eric Bauza.
