Cena: 'I Don't Own My Performance' on Coyote vs. Acme
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- John Cena told Entertainment Weekly that 'I don't own my performance' and that he 'can accept both the positive and the negative' of the shelving-and-release saga, framing the outcome as beyond his control as a hired performer.
- Ketchup Entertainment rescued the Dave Green-directed 'Coyote vs. Acme' from Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal reported at roughly $50 million, with the film now set to premiere in theaters on August 28.
- Warner Bros. Discovery shelved the completed film in November 2023 for a $30 million tax write-off during its merger-era cost-cutting, alongside shelving 'Batgirl' and 'Scoob! Holiday Haunt.'
- Cena rationalized the situation by focusing on what he could control: 'with the things within my control, I got to be there on the ground with people who made me better and people I care about, and I got to do the thing.'
- 'Coyote vs. Acme' stars Will Forte as attorney Kevin Avery, with Cena, Lana Condor, Tone Bell, Martha Kelly, and Luis Guzmán, plus Looney Tunes characters; the script is by Samy Burch from a story by Burch, James Gunn, and Jeremy Slater, based on Ian Frazier's 1990 New Yorker article.
Why it matters: Warner Bros. Discovery absorbed a $30 million tax write-off on a completed film only for Ketchup Entertainment to buy the same movie for roughly $50 million, meaning a shelved project with reportedly good test screenings is now reaching audiences — and Cena's gracious stance defuses what could have become a public dispute over a scrapped release, given the film's high-profile cast and franchise IP.
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