After a lengthy road to the big screen, “Coyote vs. Acme” scored $15.4 million in its domestic opening weekend, which was on the high end of expectations and good enough for a No. 2 finish to the unbeatable “Spider-Man.”
Even if indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment takes a financial loss on the title, what “Coyote vs. Acme” has gained in street credit is worth its weight in gold, sources say, adding that money isn’t the only currency Hollywood operates on, after all.
Director Dave Green is now in high demand, both for the film’s quality and his grace under pressure during the years-long ordeal.
Ketchup has gained significant brand awareness around town, earning a reputation as a champion for artists, and has delivered its highest opening yet. And, most importantly, Bugs Bunny is back on the big screen! Ain’t he a stinker?
While some will be quick to compare that figure against Ketchup’s $50 million acquisition of the film after Warner Bros. shelved the project for a tax write-off, one inside source reminds us that the box office performance of the Looney Tunes romp is nothing short of a miracle, given the circumstances.
“To see it do more than $15 million with Ketchup – god bless them that they exist and they took this risk on – but they don’t have the same resources in P&A. They don’t have the same ability to get brand deals. ‘Space Jam’ had Nike and McDonald’s,” the source tells us.
So does the $15.4 million opening from a distributor with limited resources proves that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the wrong choice punting the title?
“Forget how this movie could have opened if it had the confidence of Warner Brothers, with all the tie-ins,” added the source. “Even if the movie was a push, imagine the lift in consumer product for the Looney Tunes brand, which generations are missing. Making it cool again and bringing them back – to just throw all of that value away is insane!”
It’s no secret that Looney Tunes is less popular than it once was – but a project like “Coyote vs. Acme,” which boasts an “A” Cinemascore and earned rave reviews, could have been a potential Foghorn Leghorn-sized boost. (Our source predicts that “Coyote vs. Acme” could have opened to $30-40 million if given the proper advertising resources at WB.)
“I’m sure Netflix would die to have Looney Tunes and figure out how to monetize that. It has real potential. And this movie, I think, would have given you legitimacy if you had treated it differently,” the source says.
Other WB titles that didn’t survive Zaslav’s cuts – “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” — weren’t so lucky.
