‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ Melodrama: Congressman Bashes Warner Bros Discovery For “Scrapping Fully Made Films For Tax Breaks,” Calls For Federal Probe
deadline.comTexas congressman Joaquin Castro has taken to X to slam Warner Bros Discovery for axing the $70M Coyote vs. Acme for a reported $30M tax writeoff.
That said, as we first reported, the studio is changing course this week and screening the film for potential buyers, i.e. Amazon Prime (a leading contender), Apple and Netflix.
This pivot by studio brass was made after a weekend in which the studio’s phone rang off the hook by the creative community over the cancelling of the finished film, as well as an outcry by the pic’s composer Steven Price among others online. “The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive,” wrote Castro, who has protested WBD before on antitrust issues. “As the Justice Department and @FTC revise their antitrust guidelines they should review this conduct,” he continued. “As someone remarked, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money,” he added.
See his tweet below:The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive.As the Justice Department and @FTC revise their antitrust guidelines they should review this conduct.As someone remarked, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money.
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