What David Zaslav Got Wrong About ‘Coyote vs. Acme’

Three years after “Coyote vs. Acme” was shelved by Warner Bros. as a tax write-off and rescued by indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment, the Looney Tunes comedy has become a box-office bright spot with more than $100 million globally. Was Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, who deemed it financially unworthy to release on the big screen, wrong to axe the film?

That answer might depend on who is doing the accounting, analysts say. “Coyote vs. Acme” is a major win for Ketchup Entertainment, which paid $50 million for distribution rights and pre-sold foreign territories to offset the cost. Those grosses might not have been as celebratory for Warner Bros., considering the film cost $70 million to produce. (Theater owners get to keep half of ticket sales.) Warner Bros. dumped the live-action animation hybrid, starring Will Forte and John Cena and produced by DC Studios co-chief James Gunn, for a $30 million tax write-down.

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There’s an argument to be made that Warner Bros. would have been able to put more marketing dollars behind the release, which could have elevated global ticket sales. There’s another case that moviegoers rallied only behind “Coyote vs. Acme” to prove the studio wrong. By comparison, “Coyote vs. Acme” dramatically outperformed another recent Ketchup-distributed Looney Tunes adventure, 2024’s “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” after Warner Bros. Discovery quietly decided to offload that film as well. “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” whose target audience skewed much younger, grossed $15.4 million globally.

“It’s easy to opine on a decision after we’ve seen the effects,” says Shawn Robbins, founder of Box Office Theory and director of movie analytics at Fandango. “The movie did well partly because of rallying from fans. But it turned out to be a good movie.”

Buoyed by great reviews and positive word of mouth, “Coyote vs. Acme” launched in late August and started strong with $15.9 million domestically. Ticket sales have since climbed to $59.8 million domestically and $45 million overseas, underscoring the value of PG-rated films with brand familiarity. Theater owners frequently complain that they don’t have enough new movies aimed at families. And while original animation has struggled in post-COVID years, remakes, spinoffs and sequels in known franchises, such as “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “PAW Patrol,” have been reliable as modest box office draws.

The success of “Coyote vs. Acme” is especially glaring given Warner Bros.’ abysmal 2026 box-office performance. The studio has siphoned off a string of money losers, including Tom Cruise’s dark comedy “Digger,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s punk rock “The Bride!” and DC’s “Supergirl.”

“There was legacy value in that IP, and the box office grosses of ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ reflect it,” says analyst David A. Gross of FranchiseRe. “All-audience films are extremely valuable and among the biggest earners at the box office. And there would have been upside with stronger marketing.”

Moreover, the wall-to-wall negative press Zaslav generated for shelving a finished movie (that was supposedly well received in test screenings) wasn’t worth the headache, according to studio sources. The decision did little to endear the former television executive to the film community after his predecessor Jason Kilar’s ill-fated decision to put the studio’s 2021 slate simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max had isolated many creatives in Hollywood. Although other employees within Warner Bros. pushed back on the decision to bury the film, Zaslav relegated the final call to accountants, sources add.

At the time, “Coyote vs. Acme” was the third casualty of Zaslav’s post-pandemic cost-cutting efforts. In 2022, he shocked Hollywood by shelving the $90 million DC-centric “Batgirl” and kid-friendly “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” for tax purposes. Those three films were greenlit by Kilar, the studio’s former chief who departed earlier that year. Zaslav, who succeeded Kilar, said at the time he was shifting the studio’s priorities back to theatrical and felt “Coyote vs. Acme” didn’t fit with the new creative direction of the company. Box office watchers wonder whether Zaslav understood the value of the Warner Bros. catalog. After all, “Coyote vs. Acme,” “Batgirl” and “Scoob” hail from well-known brands. And there’s a reason that studios invest so heavily in recognizable franchises – they’re designed to turn the kind of easy profits that help justify other original swings.

“We see so many remakes and sequels because they make money,” says Robbins. “The fact that ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ was based on IP plays into the curiosity behind Warner Bros. [getting rid of it].”