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(Nexstar) – After being shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2023, the fully completed “Coyote vs. ACME” film was almost certainly rescued from obscurity by another distribution company last month.
The film is a character from “a live-action/animated comedy that is a bunch of characters from Forte, John Cena and Looney Tunes,” and was one of three films Warner Bros Discovery chose to essentially fill in a safe in exchange for off-tax writing. The other two were “Batgirl,” starring Leslie Grace and Michael Keaton, and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” the first part of the 2020s “Scoob!”. (At the 2022 merger with WarnerMedia and Discovery, all three films were greenlight before the change in leadership at Warner Bros.)
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Speaking about the decision to discard the release of the film, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Theslav said at the 2023 New York Times Dealbook Summit that his team discarded certain projects or releases that didn’t fit their ideas for the future of the company. So it didn’t make any financial sense to “expend another $30 million or $40 million to promote,” he said.
“When we look at our health today, we had to make those decisions,” Zaslav insisted. “And that took real courage.”
Luckily for Looney Tunes fans, Ketchup Entertainment announced in late March that it had signed a deal to buy the rights to “Coyote vs. Acme,” and had plans to release it in theaters in 2026.
“We are thrilled to have signed a deal with Warner Bros Pictures to reach audiences around the world,” said Gareth West, CEO of Ketchup Entertainment, in a statement. “‘Coyote vs Acme” is the perfect blend of nostalgia and modern storytelling, introducing a new generation while capturing the essence of our beloved Rooney Tunes characters. ”
However, other shelves movies weren’t that lucky. This let’s take a look at five nearby movies that you think you’ll never see.
“Batgirl”
As mentioned briefly above, the film based on the DC Comics character “Batgirl” was in post-production when Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) executives decided to cut it down in 2022.
The film directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life), Bad Boys: Ride or Die) was originally intended for release on HBO Max, but WBD’s new leadership reportedly considered throwing additional special effects on the filmmakers and re-shooting them. However, they reportedly didn’t think it was a worthwhile investment.
Leslie Grace (center) will be seen on the set of the Batgirl movie in Glasgow, Scotland in January 2022 (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Peter Safran, who took over as co-CEO of DC Studios (WBD division) in October 2022, said that David Zaslav’s team later made the right decision by shelving the film.
“We wouldn’t have been able to compete in the theatre market. It was built for small screens,” Saffron said at a wide variety of press events.
‘Golden’
The latest unreleased film on the list, “Golden,” is a film musical based on the childhood of musician Pharrell Williams, directed by Michelle Gondry (“The Eternal Sunlight of a Pretty Heart”). The cast included Da’vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), Halle Bailey (“The Little Mermaid”), Janelle Monet (“The Hidden Person”), and Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”). Kelvin Harrison Jr. (“The Chicago Seven Trial”, “Elvis”) was, in his words, the substitute for “Fallerian.”
Also, it was composers Benji Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, The Great Showman) who lend their talent to the film.
However, during post-production, Gondry and Farrell said the project did not live up to their expectations.
“When we all entered the editorial office, we all decided there was no way to tell this version of the story that we had originally envisioned,” the two said in a joint statement to Variety in 2025.
By that time, Pharrell had already produced and starred in the 2024 film “Peace by Piece,” a biographical/documentary about the life of a musician, “Talked through the lens of LEGO Animation.”
“Sea Woman”
It is not uncommon for silent films to be lost to history, but “The Woman of the Sea,” filmed in 1926, was producing early classics. Produced by Charlie Chaplin and directed by Joseph von Steinberg (who continues to direct “The Blue Angel” and “The Shanghai Express”), the film was intended to mark the return of Edna Paviance, who previously starred in dozens of Chaplin films but was in the spotlight years ago.
After filming, Chaplin reportedly did not love the early cuts of the film. This was the only production that allowed him to helm to another director – and shelved it.
“We found the cost of the photo to be around $90,000, but Chaplin felt he hadn’t reached the standard he wanted to be associated with his name. So the film remains in place until Chaplin has the opportunity to remake it himself,” Variety wrote in 1926.
But Chaplin didn’t remake it. Purviance retired from acting the following year, and in June 1933, Chaplin arranged for tax purposes to burn the film’s negatives in front of several witnesses.
“The day the clown cried”
The partially completed footage of “The Clown Cried” has recently found a way to do so online, but the entire film produced in 1972 was not released. And that’s probably how Jerry Lewis wanted it.
Lewis directed and starring, “The Day the Clown Cryed,” centered around German Pierodo Arku (Lewis), who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. During the Doark camp, he attempts to entertain the Jewish child prisoners before eventually dies with them.
Pierre Etaix and Jerry Lewis are depicted in Paris on March 22, 1972 on the set of “The Colywed Crowed” (STF/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Deadline, film production skeptics were initially wary of Lewis’ involvement, as he was mostly known for his comedic performances. The film’s rough cut was later criticised for what some viewers saw as a false subject. Showing an unfinished version in the early ’70s, Harry Shearer (“This is a Spine Tap”, “Simpsons”) told Spy magazine in 1992 that he was “so wrong,” compared to Auschwitz’s velvet painting “in the wrong way, striving hard.”
Joan O’Brien, who wrote the original script (redesigned by Lewis), owned the rights to the story and resisted the release of the film, she told Spy Magazine. Lewis also reportedly was fighting with the film producer over fundraising after using his own money to finish filming.
Lewis later admitted that the production was misguided and claimed he had a hand in hiding it from viewers.
“From that film’s perspective, I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed about my work. And I’m grateful that I have the power to contain it all and that I won’t let anyone see it,” he said in a 2013 Q&A session.
However, Lewis donated reels from the film, and donated behind the scenes footage and audio to the Library of Congress. This made it available for research purposes in 2024.
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“Gore”
The biopic about American writer Gore Vidal was filmed in 2017 with Kevin Spacey leading roles and Douglas Booth (Noah, Jupiter Rises) as Vidal’s apprentice. However, prior to the scheduled release on Netflix, Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour on the set of Netflix show “House of Cards.” (Space’s role in another film, “All Money in the World,” was a reshot with Christopher Plummer as a result of the allegations.)
In a statement to the Netflix representative Hollywood Reporter, Spacey has been dropped from “House of Cards,” and the streaming company said “will not make any progress with the release of the film “Gore,” a post-production film starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.”
Speaking to Movieweb in 2024, Booth said it was “heartbreaking” that the film wasn’t released.
“Maybe one day – I hope hundreds of people you know have worked on that film – and one day you can thank them for their work, especially [director Michael Hoffman]Booth said.
Spacey was ultimately found not liable for the charges against him and not guilty, but the other charges were dismissed for a variety of reasons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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