Congressman Slams Warner Bros. for Canceling ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ Calls for Federal Investigation

A congressman calls for a federal investigation into Warner Bros. because of its treatment Coyote vs. Acme.

Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro went to X to blow up the studio over the original plan to shelve the film for a tax break.

“The WBD tactic of cutting fully-made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive,” the San Antonio Democrat wrote. “If the Department of Justice revises their antitrust guidelines, they should review this behavior. As someone commented, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money.”

Warners has since reversed its decision amid industry backlash, deciding to sell the film to other studios and streamers. But the studio previously continued to shelve films for tax write-offs with the films last year Batgirl And Scoob! Holiday chase.

Castro has been outspoken on antitrust issues in the media and entertainment. In April, he called on competition authorities to reassess Discovery’s merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia. This followed 30 members of Congress warning that the resulting competitive vacuum would hurt workers and consumers and reduce variety programming — which became a common criticism after the company canned its $90 million HBO Max movie. Batgirlthe first DC film led by a Latina, due to the tax write-off.

In a letter to the Justice Department, Castro previously wrote that the deal involved Warner Bros. allowed Discovery to “adopt potentially anticompetitive practices,” including “product cancellations.”

“The harm to content creators whose projects are canceled during in-depth development and post-production cannot be overstated,” the Letter dated April 7. “Such cancellations tarnish these projects, making them less attractive and marketable to other buyers – consumers will likely never be able to watch programs purchased and then canceled by WBD. WBD’s conduct amounts to a de facto ‘catch and kill’ practice, which greatly limits consumer choice.”

Under current merger guidelines, whether a deal is approved considers whether it will incentivize a company to “withdraw a product that is strongly preferred by a significant number of customers.” Castro, in his comments about the shelves of Coyote vs. Acmecould refer to the lack of competition in Hollywood, allowing WBD to make unpopular moves without hurting the bottom line.

The call for an investigation is the latest twist in the almost cartoonish saga of the live-action/animation hybrid Coyote vs. Acmewhich went from just another title on Warners’ list to the most talked-about film in Hollywood thanks to the studio’s initial attempt to scrap the project.

unlike Batgirl And Scoob! Holiday chaseHowever, Coyote vs. Acme is all set and has had a successful public showing with test scores in the 90s. Supporters of the project put pressure on the studio to change last week’s decision, with some creatives even canceling meetings with the company in protest. “I don’t know how you see the movie and say, ‘That can’t happen to me,’” No one will save you filmmaker Brian Duffield said earlier THR.

Now the studio is allowing director Dave Green to buy the project, although it’s not yet clear what price Warner Bros. for the title, given its potential value as a tax write-off that would help offset the film’s $70 million budget.

Coyote vs. Acme follows the speechless and hapless Wile E. Coyote as he teams up with a lawyer (Will Forte) to take on the ACME corporation. As in the cartoons, Coyote buys ACME devices to try to kill Road Runner, but they never work properly, leading him to seek out the company to take down the company.