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Filmmakers took to Twitter/X to sing their praises for Coyote vs. Acme after Warner Bros. Discovery shelved and scrapped the live-action CGI hybrid film for a $30 million tax write-off.

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[-] kalkulat@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago

I ... don't get it. What is the purpose of a tax writeoff? Suppose it saves them money this year. But they lose a much larger profit. Is it being saved for later when their fortunes are lower?

[-] pwnicholson@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

I assume someone somewhere decided that it was going to net a profit (after already sunk production costs and yet-to-be-spent promoting costs and other obligations) of less than $30 million.

So if given the choice between hoping it maybe makes $20-40 million in net profit vs a guaranteed $30 million as a tax write-off, that's easy math for the number crunchers.

I have no idea but they could also have decided they didn't want to spend to promote it. It costs a fortune in money up front to promote movies these days, even after the movie is 'in the can'. Money is getting more and more expensive with interest rates going up, so financing even promotional costs is more expensive.

[-] Lev_Astov@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Might it also be possible that they're trying this as a method of guerilla marketing? People get angry at the cancellation and spread the word, then they capitulate and uncancel it.

[-] blargerer@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago

This is the third movie they've shelved in the last couple years, so seems unlikely (for context there have only been like 20 films ever shelved this late into production)

[-] Thassodar@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Something else to consider: Chip n Dale and the Tom and Jerry live action/CGI films didn't make a ton of money either.

Why risk it when the risk was already taken numerous times, hell throw the puppet homicide movie in there too, by other companies?

[-] GombeenSysadmin@feddit.uk 17 points 1 year ago

It’s a write off for them, Jerry, they just - pftpftpft - write it off!

[-] reddig33@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I wouldn’t think they could take the write off if it’s ever shown.

[-] Fal@yiffit.net 6 points 1 year ago

Then you've fallen into the exact trap everyone does about "write offs". They can write off the same amount whether they release it or not, because they can write off all expenses for everything.

[-] blargerer@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

If they thought they'd make a much larger profit by releasing it, they would. Likely they think it's shit (rightly or wrongly) and isn't worth putting a marketing budget behind before they could see any gains.

[-] CooperHawkes@lemm.ee 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Son of a… I was really liking the idea of this movie… what a shit ass move by Warner Bros.

[-] nicetriangle@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

Their CEO (Zaslav) is a total piece of shit

[-] dan1101@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

It never occurred to me that he is in charge of Looney Tunes. What a shitty development. And Disney owns about everything else.

[-] nicetriangle@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Yeah the amount of media consolidation we have right now is an a huge problem and it just keeps getting worse.

[-] Bonehead@kbin.social 16 points 1 year ago

Hmmmmm...a whole bunch of articles about a star-studded movie that was canned and is now being praised by critics. I think I smell a hype machine working...

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

source

According to reports, the movie cost around $72 million and involved Hollywood personalities like John Cena and James Gunn as producers.

Warner Bros. cited a shift in global strategy towards focusing on theatrical releases as the reason for this decision. The studio expressed respect for the filmmakers, cast, and crew, acknowledging their contributions to the project.

This decision follows similar actions taken with the shelving of Batgirl and Scoobi Holiday Haunt in August 2022, both originally intended for streaming. They were subsequently shelved as a tax write-down amid efforts to find savings within the company.

[-] Wirrvogel@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago

The problem isn't that they're doing it, the problem is a tax code that not only allows it, but makes it a valuable election.

All the people who worked on it have nothing to show on their CVs, which means that if they are made redundant - and many probably only had contracts for the duration of the project anyway - it will be harder to get another job.

[-] GrammatonCleric@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Everything about this screams marketing

this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
164 points (96.6% liked)

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