Film forum off topic/random chat thread

Speaking of Disney, they announced 'Moana 2' yesterday. This wouldn't be particularly noteworthy, except a) it was conceived as a TV show before being repurposed into a film and b) it's out in November, which is very late for a big-name Disney sequel to be announced.

I'm very curious about whether its TV origins are obvious, and whether it has been hastily repurposed as a theatrical 'sure thing' after a disastrous box office year for Disney. Of course, there's every possibility the TV show was a well-considered follow-up in the first place, just seems like quite an abrupt conversion.

Remember when Warner Bros backtracked on their decision to bin Coyote vs Acme for a tax write-down, after an outpouring of outrage?

Well The Wrap reports that, despite interest from other distributors, Warner Bros looks like they're probably going to bin the film anyway as they demanded an unreasonable amount of money for it and refused counter-offers.

Zazlav is a cartoonish villain of a CEO who reportedly never even watched the film.

Just an unspeakably grim state of affairs from a farcically cynical studio.

Oh don’t get me wrong: zero hope in the film being good or interesting, as the franchise is spent (and has been for roughly five films now). But Leitch’s post-Wick films have been hacky as all hell, while the Wick films themselves only grew in confidence and ambition when he stepped back from them. So no big loss to any project IMO.

Did you read the article? It's all addressed right there:

The only reason for Warner Bros. to not release it in some form or sell it for under the production cost and claw some money back is if some sort of tax code bullshit means they make more money from binning it. Which makes no logical sense and is total late-capitalist dystopian bullshit in its most cynical form. At the very least, legislators should be rushing to close any such tax loop hole immediately. If it's not illegal under competition law already, there's a damn good argument that it should be.

And to be honest, whether they ever were realistic about wanting to sell it or just did a half-arsed or disingenuous attempt as a bid to quell mounting filmmaker and public disquiet about it is another question entirely.

Regardless of the financials, anyone even remotely interested in film as a medium should be utterly repulsed at the prospect that a completed film is never going to see the light of day - doubly so when the film has, by all reporting, been as warmly received by test audiences as this one has. I don't give a single **** about Warner Bros' financial sheet: they let people make a film, those people made a (reportedly) good one, and the bare minimum expectation is that film should be released in some form for the public to be able to watch it.

Matt Zoller Seitz puts it bluntly but entirely correctly in this article: https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/coyote-vs-acme-canceled

What hype were you expecting? Many films don’t have much or any public awareness until the first trailer drops, or until after the first round of festival screenings. Many films are word of mouth hits after release, even.

Warner Bros isn’t breaking even by not releasing the film, either. Even in Hollywood you can’t wave away $70m as non-existent spending. Better for 99.999999% of the planet that the film gets released, and Warner Bros would still claw back 50-odd percent of the money spent on the film at a minimum. Maybe more, given they apparently rejected any efforts at counter-offers. Several industry publications report the Paramount offer included a theatrical release.

Plus, there’s more at stake here than the cost of this film alone. If Warners alienate filmmakers like this, they’ll attract fewer and fewer to make films for them. This is a studio that already torched a lucrative partnership with Christopher Nolan for short term gains. Phil Lord - who made Warners millions with his work on the likes of the Lego Movie - is one of the high profile creatives publicly criticising Warners for this.

This is a film written by the screenwriter whose debut feature (May December) was almost certainly IMO the best script of its release year. The idea that her next work will never be seen due to some Hollywood accounting nonsense is a travesty, and I genuinely am at a loss as to why anybody would try to defend Warner Bros’ actions here.