In an open letter to his fellow cast members and crew, Coyote vs. Acme star Will Forte seems to confirm a growing suspicion: Warner Bros. is never releasing this movie.
Forte is among a handful of folks in Hollywood who disprove the idea that you should never meet your heroes. The former SNL cast member and star of MacGruber and The Last Man on Earth is an actual mensch, as further evidenced by an open letter to his Coyote vs. Acme colleagues. “I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie,” Forte writes. “And sadly, it’s looking like you never will.” He goes on to explain that when he first heard that the movie was shelved, he assumed “what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk. But then I saw it. And it’s incredible.”
Describing Coyote vs. Acme as “Super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way,” Forte joins a small chorus of cast, crew, and critics who’ve had a chance to see the film that Warner Bros. shelved for a tax write-down.
“As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special,” he writes. “That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?” Forte notes that while the studio has the final say, “It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fucking hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.”
Despite enthusiastic test screenings, public backlash, and attempted legal action, Warner Bros. appears determined to make sure Coyote vs. Acme remains locked in a vault. Directed by Dave Green (Earth to Echo) and written by Oscar nominee Samy Burch (May December), the film—a blend of live-action and animation likened to Who Framed Roger Rabbit—also stars John Cena and Lana Condor.
Following backlash to the decision to stick the film on a shelf with Batgirl, Warner Bros. said it would shop Coyote vs. Acme to other studios and streaming platforms. Recently, reports claimed that the studio was rejecting qualified offers and demanding more than twice the amount of the tax write-off.
(featured image: Jim Bennett, Getty Images / Warner Bros.)
