I think it should be a law that if you want to take a tax write-off for a movie your company produced, than you give up all rights to the production to the library of Congress and it becomes...
I think it should be a law that if you want to take a tax write-off for a movie your company produced, than you give up all rights to the production to the library of Congress and it becomes freely available to the public to do with as they please. The US Government is effectively buying their movie, so logically whatever is made belongs to the citizenry.
I like it. Increase the public domain and put it out there as a competitor of sorts. Reminds me of the story from Newsroom on how we got the nightly news- that it used to be considered “the...
I like it. Increase the public domain and put it out there as a competitor of sorts.
Reminds me of the story from Newsroom on how we got the nightly news- that it used to be considered “the public’s airwaves” and the networks had to negotiate for usage.
There are so many examples of how the US could legislate rules to address issues and benefit the citizenry if it wasn’t owned by K Street.
In what way? A business pays taxes on profit. By writing off the movie, they're saying that the entire project was a loss with no income. By shelving the project this way, they also aren't...
The US Government is effectively buying their movie
In what way? A business pays taxes on profit. By writing off the movie, they're saying that the entire project was a loss with no income. By shelving the project this way, they also aren't continuing to spend money to get it on screen. So the write off is that they're not paying taxes on the profit that never materialized, the government isn't handing out cash.
Isn't a write off somehow equivalent to a tax deduction? Meaning that they will pay less taxes on their current revenue? If so, it's not really a matter of not paying hypothetical taxes, but a...
Isn't a write off somehow equivalent to a tax deduction? Meaning that they will pay less taxes on their current revenue? If so, it's not really a matter of not paying hypothetical taxes, but a matter of paying less of the existing ones.
In any case, this doesn't mean either that the government is handing out money to them.
Seriously?? This is just massively disappointing. Shelving a film this close to completion (assuming it wasn't already complete, article just says filming was done so there could still be some...
Seriously?? This is just massively disappointing. Shelving a film this close to completion (assuming it wasn't already complete, article just says filming was done so there could still be some post-production left) feels like a slap in the face to the people who worked on it. The reasoning of "we want to focus on a different direction" just feels flimsy to me.
I'm assuming it was absolutely terrible. Something was bad enough to justify that loss of investment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but businesses usually only intentionally leave money on the table if...
I'm assuming it was absolutely terrible. Something was bad enough to justify that loss of investment.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but businesses usually only intentionally leave money on the table if they have more to lose by taking it than by leaving it.
Edit: Sorry everyone, I committed the cardinal sin of not reading the article. Something I actually have hypocritically judged people for in the past.
So upon reading comments and the article, it seems the movie screened well. So now I'm just wondering why they cancelled it. Politics of some sort? I don't really understand the "it saves us money" explanation.
Doesn't seem to be the case. From another article in The Guardian: So, the reasoning just continues to feel flimsy. The article notes that this, and the other two big canceled projects (Batgirl...
Production on the film had completed last year and, according to Deadline, test screenings had already been underway with results 14 points above the norm for a family movie. It had originally been set for release this July but was pulled.
The writer-director Brian Duffield tweeted: “I have seen this movie and it is excellent. It also tested in the high 90s repeatedly. It also had interested buyers. The people working at Warner Bros are anti-art and I hope multiple anvils drop on their heads.”
So, the reasoning just continues to feel flimsy. The article notes that this, and the other two big canceled projects (Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt) were greenlit by the previous CEO before Zaslav took over.
WB has made some other iffy decisions since the merger with Discovery+. Batgirl is the most famous one, but it's also canceled multiple fairly popular shows on HBO. If you search "David Zaslov controversy" you can find all sorts of controversial moves done in the name of saving money, while pissing off and alienating MANY creators in Hollywood. There's a reason the article specifically mentioned he at least gave "advance notice" to the filmmakers this time, plenty of people found out their projects were canceled or removed from Max when it was announced to the public. The most recent controversy to come to mind was his attempt to mess with TCM.
Actually, that search now results mostly in links to articles about WB forcing GQ to delete the article you are probably talking about, but fortunately there's an archived version of it that WB...
If you search "David Zaslov controversy" you can find all sorts of controversial moves done in the name of saving money, while pissing off and alienating MANY creators in Hollywood.
Actually, that search now results mostly in links to articles about WB forcing GQ to delete the article you are probably talking about, but fortunately there's an archived version of it that WB can't get their paws on:
To be honest, I didn't have a specific article in mind. He's made many controversial moves, and I've heard about most of them in real time from friends trying to break into the entertainment...
To be honest, I didn't have a specific article in mind. He's made many controversial moves, and I've heard about most of them in real time from friends trying to break into the entertainment industry.
Highlights off the top of my head include: Batgirl and Scoob; canceling multiple well-received shows on short notice with flimsy reasoning, leading to some speculation of racism since at least one was about Latino characters; completely neglecting to notify people that their shows were being pulled from HBO Max in advance (I specifically remember the Infinity Train creator found out from the same press release given to the public); and just generally screwing over the animation department. They canceled a LOT of animated shows and movies.
I've honestly been in a bit of awe at how bad many of these decisions are. It's not just canceling the productions, it's the complete lack of respect and communication. Every move alienates more directors and other big names because at this point, they just can't trust WB Discovery.
Shelving Coyote vs. Acme when it's complete and ready for release is just the lowest blow possible. All those hours and years of work on it were effectively wasted for no good reason. Any good memories are soured by how horribly it ended.
On top of the positive test screenings, the film was also written by James Gunn. Which guarantees some sort of quality, even if just by Scooby Doo standards.
On top of the positive test screenings, the film was also written by James Gunn. Which guarantees some sort of quality, even if just by Scooby Doo standards.
I was unironically looking forward to this because I love court-room dramas and maybe, just maybe if the script for this was smart, we'd have a good comedy in the vein of Roger Rabbit. I'm super...
I was unironically looking forward to this because I love court-room dramas and maybe, just maybe if the script for this was smart, we'd have a good comedy in the vein of Roger Rabbit. I'm super disappointed this got shelved.
Scoob! Holiday Haunt all over again. finished yet shelved. That was explained as tax writeoffs (the worst excuse, but I digress) I wonder if this is similar. Could be a much more insidious reason,...
Scoob! Holiday Haunt all over again. finished yet shelved. That was explained as tax writeoffs (the worst excuse, but I digress) I wonder if this is similar. Could be a much more insidious reason, could be as petty as someone high up not liking animation (or John Cena? But he tends to be one of the more honorable celebrities.. oh wait, of course corporate would hate that).
What’s with Warner not releasing finished product? They could at least stream it somewhere. Not that I really care about this film in particular, but I’m dying to see the end of Snowpiercer which...
What’s with Warner not releasing finished product? They could at least stream it somewhere. Not that I really care about this film in particular, but I’m dying to see the end of Snowpiercer which got basically the same treatment.
I thought it was a funny concept to flesh out, and I'm always excited for hybrid animated films. Even if some end up subpar or worse (Tom and Jerry 2022). But yes, I really am frustrated with this...
I thought it was a funny concept to flesh out, and I'm always excited for hybrid animated films. Even if some end up subpar or worse (Tom and Jerry 2022).
But yes, I really am frustrated with this rising practice of sitting on something that has already been finished. What a waste of labor and money.
This seems like a bad idea heading into a probable strike-induced content drought. The strikes may finally be over, but a lot of next summer's tentpoles have already been pushed out to the...
This seems like a bad idea heading into a probable strike-induced content drought. The strikes may finally be over, but a lot of next summer's tentpoles have already been pushed out to the holidays or 2025. A John Cena vehicle featuring Looney Tunes characters could clean up as long as it is at least watchable.
This is not the first time that the studio has discarded a nearly-finished or completed film as a tax write-off. Last year, Warner Bros. execs took a write-down on the animated feature Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, as well as the straight-to-streaming live-action film Batgirl.
Deadline reports that the Dave Green-directed film, which tested extremely well with audiences, won’t even be offered to other companies, even though Amazon was interested in acquiring it for its streaming service. The tax write-off is apparently more valuable to Warner Bros. than any potential third-party pick-up.
Well, as often happens, a Change.org petition has popped up to demand it be released. I doubt it will be effective in changing Warner Bros' minds, but I'm sharing it because it's a good example of...
Well, as often happens, a Change.org petition has popped up to demand it be released. I doubt it will be effective in changing Warner Bros' minds, but I'm sharing it because it's a good example of why shelving it is so disrespectful to everyone who worked on it. It was made by a background actor who, from the sounds of it, lost his parents and son.
This quote sums up how I feel about this whole thing:
The cancellation of "Coyote vs Acme" is not just about one movie; it's about respecting the efforts of all those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and on screen. It's about giving audiences what they deserve - good cinema that entertains and moves them emotionally.
Again, doubt it will do much to change minds of executives at WB. I'm personally hoping that, since they had advance warning it would be shelved this time, someone involved grabbed a copy and will just leak the entire film online. It would be better than just letting all their work go to waste. At least then the people who worked on it can see it and show their friends and family.
So I recently watched a Some More News episode about hollywood movies etc and it explained why batgirl was shelved. It made perfect sense, and had to do with money (shocking), I can’t remember the...
So I recently watched a Some More News episode about hollywood movies etc and it explained why batgirl was shelved. It made perfect sense, and had to do with money (shocking), I can’t remember the actual explanation now. Maybe something to do with residuals? I was left with the distinct impression part of the reason was screwing cast and crew.
I don’t think that was a reason, at least not a main reason. So Zaslav takes over WB and wants to stop making so many expensive straight to HBOMAX movies. He decides to move many HBOMAX Original...
I don’t think that was a reason, at least not a main reason.
So Zaslav takes over WB and wants to stop making so many expensive straight to HBOMAX movies. He decides to move many HBOMAX Original titles to theatrical release. Evil Dead Rise, Magic Mike The Last Dance, and House Party (of which only Evil Dead Rise actually becomes a hit).
Batgirl was deemed not good enough for theatrical release and too expensive to go straight to HBOMAX (there’s controversy surrounding this statement. But from everything I’ve read Batgirl had worse screenings than Shazam 2 with the main criticism being that it felt like a CW show). The thinking was they’d lose less money doing a tax write off than releasing it in theaters and would definitely lose less money than just sending it to the HBOMAX void.
I suppose a criticism could be made that Zaslav and WB et al did not want to pay residuals, but I just don’t think that was at the forefront. If there could be a “woke” criticism, it’d be that Zaslav (who wants the company to have “more broad appeal”) it’d be that the main character is a black woman and that also wouldn’t have sold very well.
Can’t help but wonder… two completely made up speculative theories: Cena and/or Gunn pissed off Zaslav by not breaking ranks during the strike. There was something just a little TOO subversive in...
Can’t help but wonder… two completely made up speculative theories:
Cena and/or Gunn pissed off Zaslav by not breaking ranks during the strike.
There was something just a little TOO subversive in the courtroom storyline that just might threaten the apathy toward courts as a means for Justice.
By all the comments and articles I've seen, this show is complete, finished post and is ready for release, only to hit the shelves. When they say "shelf" these days, they mean a digital copy...
By all the comments and articles I've seen, this show is complete, finished post and is ready for release, only to hit the shelves.
When they say "shelf" these days, they mean a digital copy sitting on a server somewhere. There's a chance that when WB do finally get exploited, we will see this movie. There's also a chance someone releases a copy because it should see the light of day.
People were paid for their time and effort, and movies and shows are supposed to be displayed for the masses, it's essentially Art and Art is a human need.
Fingers crossed another CEO wanders in at some point, eats the tax implications and releases a load of shelved projects.
Disappointing to hear, I was at least somewhat interested because the idea was novel and I like John Cena. He has the right comedic timing and chops to make something entertaining.
Disappointing to hear, I was at least somewhat interested because the idea was novel and I like John Cena. He has the right comedic timing and chops to make something entertaining.
I think it should be a law that if you want to take a tax write-off for a movie your company produced, than you give up all rights to the production to the library of Congress and it becomes freely available to the public to do with as they please. The US Government is effectively buying their movie, so logically whatever is made belongs to the citizenry.
I like it. Increase the public domain and put it out there as a competitor of sorts.
Reminds me of the story from Newsroom on how we got the nightly news- that it used to be considered “the public’s airwaves” and the networks had to negotiate for usage.
There are so many examples of how the US could legislate rules to address issues and benefit the citizenry if it wasn’t owned by K Street.
In what way? A business pays taxes on profit. By writing off the movie, they're saying that the entire project was a loss with no income. By shelving the project this way, they also aren't continuing to spend money to get it on screen. So the write off is that they're not paying taxes on the profit that never materialized, the government isn't handing out cash.
Fine, offer whatever is there to the public as collateral for a tax break, same principle.
Isn't a write off somehow equivalent to a tax deduction? Meaning that they will pay less taxes on their current revenue? If so, it's not really a matter of not paying hypothetical taxes, but a matter of paying less of the existing ones.
In any case, this doesn't mean either that the government is handing out money to them.
Seriously?? This is just massively disappointing. Shelving a film this close to completion (assuming it wasn't already complete, article just says filming was done so there could still be some post-production left) feels like a slap in the face to the people who worked on it. The reasoning of "we want to focus on a different direction" just feels flimsy to me.
I'm assuming it was absolutely terrible. Something was bad enough to justify that loss of investment.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but businesses usually only intentionally leave money on the table if they have more to lose by taking it than by leaving it.
Edit: Sorry everyone, I committed the cardinal sin of not reading the article. Something I actually have hypocritically judged people for in the past.
So upon reading comments and the article, it seems the movie screened well. So now I'm just wondering why they cancelled it. Politics of some sort? I don't really understand the "it saves us money" explanation.
Doesn't seem to be the case. From another article in The Guardian:
So, the reasoning just continues to feel flimsy. The article notes that this, and the other two big canceled projects (Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt) were greenlit by the previous CEO before Zaslav took over.
WB has made some other iffy decisions since the merger with Discovery+. Batgirl is the most famous one, but it's also canceled multiple fairly popular shows on HBO. If you search "David Zaslov controversy" you can find all sorts of controversial moves done in the name of saving money, while pissing off and alienating MANY creators in Hollywood. There's a reason the article specifically mentioned he at least gave "advance notice" to the filmmakers this time, plenty of people found out their projects were canceled or removed from Max when it was announced to the public. The most recent controversy to come to mind was his attempt to mess with TCM.
Actually, that search now results mostly in links to articles about WB forcing GQ to delete the article you are probably talking about, but fortunately there's an archived version of it that WB can't get their paws on:
https://archive.is/2023.07.03-160323/https://www.gq.com/story/david-zaslav-warner-bros-discovery-ceo-tcm-max
To be honest, I didn't have a specific article in mind. He's made many controversial moves, and I've heard about most of them in real time from friends trying to break into the entertainment industry.
Highlights off the top of my head include: Batgirl and Scoob; canceling multiple well-received shows on short notice with flimsy reasoning, leading to some speculation of racism since at least one was about Latino characters; completely neglecting to notify people that their shows were being pulled from HBO Max in advance (I specifically remember the Infinity Train creator found out from the same press release given to the public); and just generally screwing over the animation department. They canceled a LOT of animated shows and movies.
I've honestly been in a bit of awe at how bad many of these decisions are. It's not just canceling the productions, it's the complete lack of respect and communication. Every move alienates more directors and other big names because at this point, they just can't trust WB Discovery.
Shelving Coyote vs. Acme when it's complete and ready for release is just the lowest blow possible. All those hours and years of work on it were effectively wasted for no good reason. Any good memories are soured by how horribly it ended.
On top of the positive test screenings, the film was also written by James Gunn. Which guarantees some sort of quality, even if just by Scooby Doo standards.
I was unironically looking forward to this because I love court-room dramas and maybe, just maybe if the script for this was smart, we'd have a good comedy in the vein of Roger Rabbit. I'm super disappointed this got shelved.
On the contrary, according to Deadline the test screenings for it went very well.
Scoob! Holiday Haunt all over again. finished yet shelved. That was explained as tax writeoffs (the worst excuse, but I digress) I wonder if this is similar. Could be a much more insidious reason, could be as petty as someone high up not liking animation (or John Cena? But he tends to be one of the more honorable celebrities.. oh wait, of course corporate would hate that).
Seems like nobody know why it was dropped. Strange. By the way, just found the the joke article the movie was based on.
What’s with Warner not releasing finished product? They could at least stream it somewhere. Not that I really care about this film in particular, but I’m dying to see the end of Snowpiercer which got basically the same treatment.
I thought it was a funny concept to flesh out, and I'm always excited for hybrid animated films. Even if some end up subpar or worse (Tom and Jerry 2022).
But yes, I really am frustrated with this rising practice of sitting on something that has already been finished. What a waste of labor and money.
This seems like a bad idea heading into a probable strike-induced content drought. The strikes may finally be over, but a lot of next summer's tentpoles have already been pushed out to the holidays or 2025. A John Cena vehicle featuring Looney Tunes characters could clean up as long as it is at least watchable.
The claim here is that it's for the tax writeoff:
I wonder how that works?
Magical financial loopholes. Like all good tax write-offs. Until it gets plugged, if ever.
Well, as often happens, a Change.org petition has popped up to demand it be released. I doubt it will be effective in changing Warner Bros' minds, but I'm sharing it because it's a good example of why shelving it is so disrespectful to everyone who worked on it. It was made by a background actor who, from the sounds of it, lost his parents and son.
This quote sums up how I feel about this whole thing:
Again, doubt it will do much to change minds of executives at WB. I'm personally hoping that, since they had advance warning it would be shelved this time, someone involved grabbed a copy and will just leak the entire film online. It would be better than just letting all their work go to waste. At least then the people who worked on it can see it and show their friends and family.
So I recently watched a Some More News episode about hollywood movies etc and it explained why batgirl was shelved. It made perfect sense, and had to do with money (shocking), I can’t remember the actual explanation now. Maybe something to do with residuals? I was left with the distinct impression part of the reason was screwing cast and crew.
I don’t think that was a reason, at least not a main reason.
So Zaslav takes over WB and wants to stop making so many expensive straight to HBOMAX movies. He decides to move many HBOMAX Original titles to theatrical release. Evil Dead Rise, Magic Mike The Last Dance, and House Party (of which only Evil Dead Rise actually becomes a hit).
Batgirl was deemed not good enough for theatrical release and too expensive to go straight to HBOMAX (there’s controversy surrounding this statement. But from everything I’ve read Batgirl had worse screenings than Shazam 2 with the main criticism being that it felt like a CW show). The thinking was they’d lose less money doing a tax write off than releasing it in theaters and would definitely lose less money than just sending it to the HBOMAX void.
I suppose a criticism could be made that Zaslav and WB et al did not want to pay residuals, but I just don’t think that was at the forefront. If there could be a “woke” criticism, it’d be that Zaslav (who wants the company to have “more broad appeal”) it’d be that the main character is a black woman and that also wouldn’t have sold very well.
This movie sounds awesome and is one of the only ones I have heard about this year that would have got me into a theater to see it.
Can’t help but wonder… two completely made up speculative theories:
By all the comments and articles I've seen, this show is complete, finished post and is ready for release, only to hit the shelves.
When they say "shelf" these days, they mean a digital copy sitting on a server somewhere. There's a chance that when WB do finally get exploited, we will see this movie. There's also a chance someone releases a copy because it should see the light of day.
People were paid for their time and effort, and movies and shows are supposed to be displayed for the masses, it's essentially Art and Art is a human need.
Fingers crossed another CEO wanders in at some point, eats the tax implications and releases a load of shelved projects.
Disappointing to hear, I was at least somewhat interested because the idea was novel and I like John Cena. He has the right comedic timing and chops to make something entertaining.