‘Coyote Vs. Acme’: Will Forte Tells Fans It’s Looking Like They’ll Never See Axed Looney Tunes Animated Pic

Coyote vs. Acme star Will Forte has spoken out for the first time since the movie was killed by Warner Bros back in November, telling fans in a social media post this AM, “I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s a looking like you never will.”

He continues that when he first heard about the film being “deleted,” he hadn’t watched it.

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“So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk.”

“But then I saw it,” he continued, “And it’s Incredible.”

The last we checked in with Warners, the door wasn’t 100% closed on Coyote vs. Acme, however, they had already taken a $70M writedown on the completed feature in Q3 earnings. The movie was greenlit by the previous Warner Bros administration before Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy for around $70M-$80M. Given the fierce cost-cutting environment at Warner Bros Discovery, and the emphasis that anything motion picture wise has to be a hit (their co-production Dune: Part Two is eyeing a $170M start this weekend worldwide), it was decided that Coyote vs. Acme wasn’t worth marketing and releasing for the big screen, nor was it prudent to put the movie on streaming service Max.

Forte continued to beam about the movie in which he stars with John Cena and Lana Condor, “Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?,” continued the SNL alum and Nebraska star.

“Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don’t know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit. And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fu**king hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.”

Forte ends his note with “You would be so proud of it — a movie that should be seen, but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame. That’s all folks, Will Forte”

The axing of Coyote vs. Acme has drawn ire across Hollywood, particularly from the animation community (Phil Lord and Chris Miller) to the pic’s Oscar winning composer Steven Price (who collected a trophy for another Warner Bros’ movie, Gravity).

Soon after news hit that Warners was killing the movie, its third during the Zaslav run era of the studio after Batgirl and Scoob Holiday Haunt, the studio received a slew of phones calls from agents and filmmakers such as Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro. Warners quickly decided to hold an auction for the movie with Netflix and Paramount putting forth bids between $30M-$50M, however, that was below Warner’s asking price of $70M.

Deadline reached out to Warners for comment. We’ll update you if we hear back.

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