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The canceled movie would be the second Looney Tunes feature saved by Ketchup Entertainment.
By Aaron Couch
Film Editor
Coyote vs. Acme, the film that ignited social media when Warner Bros. canceled it for a tax write-off, may see the light of day after all. Indie outfit Ketchup Entertainment is eyeing the rights to the film, which stars Will Forte and John Cena opposite an animated Wile E. Coyote.
Ketchup and Warners have been discussing a roughly $50 million deal for some time that would put the project in theaters in 2026, though it’s still unclear if it will close. Warner Bros. declined to comment.
Ketchup has a history putting Looney Tunes movies in theaters. It distributed The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie after Warner Bros. Discovery opted to shop the film rather than release it itself. Released wide last weekend, it has earned $5.5 million globally.
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Ketchup has also backed projects such as Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Ben Affleck starrer Hypnotic and Michael Mann’s Ferrari.
The $70 million budgeted Coyote vs. Acme became the most talked about movie in Hollywood on Nov. 10, 2023 when THR broke the news that Warners intended to scrap the movie. The outcry was swift, with sources telling THR multiple filmmakers instructed their reps to cancel meetings at the studio. Warners soon reversed course, and decided to allow director Dave Green to shop the film to other buyers — something Green had been preparing to do when Warners surprised him by scrapping the film.
Green showed the film to multiple buyers, and according to one source, a bid reached around $40 million. But other sources say that no formal offer was ever made by the dozen potential distributors who saw the movie, nor did Warners turn one down.
In February 2024, the company took a $115 million writedown on mystery projects, one of which was presumably was Coyote vs. Acme.
The Coyote vs. Acme saga came 15 months after Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav stunned Hollywood by canceling Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt for tax writeoffs.
“It is such a delightful movie. It deserves so much better … I can’t tell you possibly why the decision was made to not release it, but it makes my blood boil,” Forte said last month when asked about the movie.
Deadline first reported the negotiations.
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