Warner Brothers will let a completed film that starred John Cena collect dust — permanently.
The CG-heavy live-action movie “Coyote vs. Acme” wrapped principal photography in New Mexico in 2022, but the Cena performance won’t be lighting up silver screens, or even laptop screens, according to a report published Thursday.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the budget for the film, which Warner will now claim as a tax write-off, soared as high as $60 to $80 million.
Warner Bros. Shelves John Cena’s ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ Movie a Year After It Completed Filming (Exclusive) https://t.co/MEwnoVmK4r
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 9, 2023
Despite Warner Bros. not moving forward with the feature, the studio has reportedly expressed willingness to work with the director Dave Green in the future, the Reporter noted. Other big names attached to the project include former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Will Forte — who was set to play an unspecified role, according to IMDb — and DC Studios co-head and “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn, who was a producer and contributed to the story.
“With the re-launch of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson said in a statement, per the Reporter. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme.” (RELATED: ‘Batgirl’ Star Leslie Grace Breaks Silence After Warner Bros. Axes ‘Irredeemable’ Movie)
The statement also expressed the studio’s “tremendous respect” for everyone involved in the shelved film, the outlet noted.
The expected release date was set for summer 2022, but no official trailer ever surfaced in the meantime, per the Reporter. By April of that year, the studio had scrubbed the July 21 release date and replaced it with the smash hit “Barbie,” the outlet noted.
Green tweeted Thursday that he is “beyond devastated” by the decision.
— Dave Green (@dgreenmachine) November 9, 2023
The premise of “Coyote vs Acme” — Wile E. Coyote suing the company behind the products that constantly backfire on him — derived from a humor article with the same title that The New Yorker published in 1990.