If you have a passing interest in film and animation, you’ve likely heard of Coyote Vs. Acme, a feature film in the Roger Rabbit tradition of blending 2D animation with live action focusing on characters from Warner Brothers’ Roadrunner cartoons. The film would have focused on Wile E. Coyote suing the ubiquitous Acme corporation after decades of selling him faulty products, and by all accounts appeared to be a passion project from everyone involved. The movie was, in fact, complete and ready for release- only for Warner Brothers to kill it at the last possible second in the name of a multi-million dollar tax writeoff.
From what I’ve gathered in passing, the reasoning of their getting to write it off at $80m (or whatever number) is that they finished the product and then couldn’t get $80m for it.
If they get to be compensated by the public (the govt via tax write offs) then the project should be released to the public for free, since the public paid them the asking price effectively speaking. Make it so protected shit is still protected (ips, characters, whatever) but the project itself becomes public domain as part of the write off.
If for any other reason, prove it was finished. As a taxpayer covering the bill for their bullshit, I don’t buy that all these things are actually done to the point they say it is it they’re so quick to bury a project.
Is there a Wile vs Acme movie, or did they cut a well known actor a check to spend a day in a courtroom to cut some scenes to say there’s a Wile vs Acme movie?
There must be a Coyote vs Acme movie since early and random screenings had positive reactions.