Jump to content

The Grim Zaslav Reaps Again: Warner Bros Shelves Finished Live-Action/Animated Pic Completely As Studio Takes $30M Tax Write-off


Jason

Recommended Posts

Quote

The difference here is that Coyote vs. Acme is a completed movie with very good test scores, 14 points above the family norm.

 

DEADLINE.COM

Warner Bros has completely shelved finished movie 'Coyote vs. Acme' to take $30M tax write-off. The Looney Tunes animated live action movie won't be released

 

  • Guillotine 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Jason said:

How many of these can Zaslav do before creatives start refusing to work for WB for reasonable fear that they're going to work on something that Zaslav is just gonna bury for a tax writeoff?

 

Zaslav doesn't care, because he wouldn't understand. He likely would think creatives would be happy since they will get paid either way (since only matters to people like him).

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

Zaslav doesn't care, because he wouldn't understand. He likely would think creatives would be happy since they will get paid either way (since only matters to people like him).

 

What's even crazier is that James Gunn produced this. :shock:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

THEHILL.COM

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called for a federal investigation into Warner Bros. Discovery over the organization’s handling of “Coyote vs. Acme.” “The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made...
Quote

films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive,” Castro said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

 

  • Hype 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Remarkableriots said:
THEHILL.COM

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called for a federal investigation into Warner Bros. Discovery over the organization’s handling of “Coyote vs. Acme.” “The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made...

 

 

That’s promising!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WWW.BICYCLERETAILER.COM

(VELO) — GCN+ — the live streaming service as part of the Global Cycling Network — is closing effective Dec. 19.
Quote

“This decision comes from our parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and is driven by its global strategy to consolidate its streaming services, and to offer content in fewer places, making it easier for customers to access and discover more content,” a media note read.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
VARIETY.COM

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav weighed in on the Hollywood strikes and defended the company's cutbacks as requiring "courage."
Quote

Elaborating on WBD’s decisions to write-off certain films and TV series, he said that hypothetically, if the company has already spent $100 million producing a film, “The question is, should we take certain of these movies and open them in the theater and spend another $30 [million] or $40 million to promote them?” The Warner Bros. Entertainment and HBO teams made a number of “hard” decisions, Zaslav continued, but that “when I look at the health of our company today, we needed to make those decisions. And it took real courage.”

Lololololol

  • Guillotine 1
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Brian said:
VARIETY.COM

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav weighed in on the Hollywood strikes and defended the company's cutbacks as requiring "courage."

Lololololol

God fuck him so hard. Fuck all these anti-art CEOs. You could replace him with a houseplant and still make more money than with this clown. 

  • True 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I wonder if we'll see more and more creatives avoid working with WBD, or if they're just too big to really avoid. Obviously with a film like this one or Batgirl, it's not like you could make those exact films elsewhere. Is Nolan a canary in a coal mine, or is he just massively privileged in being able to choose which studios to work with?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, thewhyteboar said:

If a movie gets canned for a tax write off it should become public domain.

 

And you should only be allowed to take a write off for the dollar value of the highest serious offer you received, not whatever inflated number you pulled out of your ass. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

WBD has reportedly decided to shelve the live action–Looney Tunes mash-up. It might be good business—but it’s also a reminder of the impermanence of art in the...
Quote

It is now overwhelmingly likely that no member of the public will ever be able to see Coyote Vs. Acme. In fact, The Wrap reports that after outcry from filmmakers and onlookers over initial reports about plans to shelf the film, which was budgeted around $70 million, Warner allowed it to be screened for interested parties. But Warner did not inform Netflix, Amazon, or Paramount—all of which are said to have made “handsome” offers—ahead of time that there would be no budging from its initial asking price, which was somewhere between $75 million and $80 million.

 

The entertainment industry, like all others, replicates this logic on a larger scale. Most analysts figure Warner will score at least a $30 million tax break for shelving Coyote Vs. Acme rather than releasing it. This is, on its face, immoral and anticompetitive whether you find morality and business competition to be one and the same or directly opposed: How can it be better to flush $70 million down the drain than to try to recoup at least some of it?

 

And still, in the immediate sense, it’s almost certainly good business; the balance sheets will be cleaner this year. But it closes off any possibility that the film would be a hit—or adapted into a hit spinoff, or heavily merchandised, or simply good enough that it makes Warner more attractive to filmmakers who could bring it hits in the future. It’s shortsighted by the most craven measures and simply gross by any others. Yet tax law—and precisely nothing else—incentivizes the conglomerate to do something that, in a sane world or in a more competitive industry landscape, would alienate it to writers, directors, and stars.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GIZMODO.COM

WB's weird rules over which characters can have so many versions running around simultaneously may have struck again.
Quote

In a recent interview with TheWrap, CW’s entertainment president Brad Schwartz and overall company president Dennis Miller talked about keeping some shows from the old regime. Superman & Lois has apparently performed quite well in previous seasons, but it was allegedly Warner Bros.’ call to cap it at four seasons. “They don’t want a competing Superman product in the marketplace,” Schwartz explained, effectively laying the blame for the show’s end at 2025's Superman: Legacy from James Gunn.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
53 minutes ago, Ricofoley said:
WWW.CNBC.COM

Warner Bros. Discovery boosted free cash flow but the company fell short of analyst estimates for revenue and profit.

 

This asshole can't even tax writeoff his way to a profit

 

What's even stupider is selling the movie for $50 million to one of the parties that wanted to buy it would have gotten them more money than writing it off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just realized that anyone who has a Max account via a cable subscription to HBO has been downgraded to no longer be able to stream HDR/DV and you’re now required to buy a completely separate Max plan if you want HDR. Fucking ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...