A new update in the WarnerMount trial as Wile E Coyote has his own day scheduled in court
The WarnerMount legal battle has a new hurdle this morning with Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín today announcing the temporary restraining order (TRO) will be extended by another two weeks. It stops Paramount and Warner Bros from closing its merger until at least August 17.
As per Deadline:
She wrote hat she “finds good cause to extend the TRO on multiple grounds, including the need to resolve two preliminary injunction motions, the parties’ disputes regarding the schedule and the proposed format of the preliminary injunction hearing, and Defendants’ stated willingness to abide by the terms of the TRO for some weeks into the future.”
This doesn’t interrupt plans for the scheduled Aug. 3 hearing on the case.
Meanwhile, the entire industry watches on. Has there been a more consequential media company merger than this? Has there been a media merger where so many people are invested in seeing it fall apart?
Send Coyote V ACME back to the novelty factory
Back in the late 90s/early 00s I used to spend a disgusting amount of time on sites like Ain’t It Cool News and pawing through various movie magazines where I would read about upcoming movie projects. They’d often have a lean towards films based on established IP.
What was always interesting about these projects… most of which never saw their way to production… is that they all have wild log lines/premises that often played with expectations of what we expected from big IP movies in that era, often with a meta twist.
The upcoming Coyote Vs ACME wasn’t one of these projects. But it has that extreme high concept vibe about them. As a teen/early twentysomething at that time, I could never understand why these films weren’t seeing production and eventual release. But now that I’m a grizzled old guy, I understand that what works as a wildly creative pitch doesn’t necessarily translate once it starts getting fleshed out.
And watching the latest trailer for Coyote Vs ACME, a film that seemed terribly unfunny in the first trailer, I couldn’t help but just keep wishing that this film had never made it into production. There’s definitely a funny idea for a movie here, but once you start teasing it out, it is evident that what is great about the Roadrunner/Coyote animated shorts is that it is the ridiculous conceit of the coyote having access to all of these gimmicks (which all seem to have the reliability of a gag product purchased out of a 1970s comic book) is what makes the cartoons funny.
Once you try explaining any of that (how does he have the bank balance to pay for them? Does he have a PO Box these are mailed to?), the funny vaporises immediately. The coyote taking ACME to court… funny as an idea… but… it just kinda ruins the bit when you see it play out.
I could see it still being funny as, say, a Robot Chicken sketch, but it is not funny when it is an authorized Warner Bros feature.
The film is borne from an idea that James Gunn had about a decade ago and he pitched it to Warner Bros. It has spent the last decade in various forms of development until finally being produced and, famously, shelved by Warner Bros as a tax write-off. Distributor Ketchup Entertainment picked it up for release, just as it had with another shelved WB film (the animated The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie).
When WB started shelving all of these movies for tax reasons (including the Batgirl feature film), the online outcry was intense. But despite all of those assurances of the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars these films could make, I look at The Day The Earth Blew Up, with its dated 1950s sci-fi futurism inspired visuals and its box office where it pulled in just over $15m. Now, I’m not suggesting $15m isn’t a lot of money… but it isn’t the sort of money a Looney Tunes movie should be making at the box office.
If this Coyote Vs ACME movie makes much more than that, I’ll be pretty surprised.
Maybe the film itself will actually prove to be inspired, but two trailers in and I’m just not seeing it. The Looney Tunes characters deserve better than this.
News Desk
To no real surprise, The Morning Show will end with its fifth season, with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon revealing the team went into it knowing it would be the last. The big question is whether the two stars will actually share any time on screen together in the final season... Read: THR
Los Angeles shoot days fell nearly 13% year-on-year from April to June — running about 36% below the five-year average — despite California handing out hundreds of millions in expanded tax credits. Read: THR
Netflix has renewed Tyler Perry‘s Beauty in Black for a fourth season ahead of its season three debut. The show had been planned to end with season three. Read: THR
Girls star Zosia Mamet has joined the fifth and final season of HBO and BBC‘s Industry. She’ll play a fitness influencer turned wellness-tech CEO. Read: THR
Reid Scott is leaving NBC‘s Law & Order after just three seasons, with Rubicon star James Badge Dale joining season 26 as his replacement Scott, who cited the cross-country commute from his family as to why he is leaving, has filmed a send-off for his character. Read: Deadline
ABW doesn’t usually post advance publicity photos (give us a trailer or GTFO, is the policy), but I think many are interested to know what the new Blade Runner TV show might look like. Source: EW
Netflix has added to its cast of Myron Bolitar, adding 10 including two of my favourites: Melissa Benoist and Bebe Neuwirth. My birthday brother KJ Apa is also on board for the Harlan Coben adaptation. Read: Variety
Natasha Rothwell has joined Hulu and Sony‘s untitled pilot inspired by the 1996 film The Cable Guy. She’ll play the sister of Damon Wayans Jr.‘s character opposite Jake Johnson as cable technician Chip Douglas. Read: Deadline
Australia’s ABC Commercial has launched four Australian FAST channels — ABC Entertains, ABC Everyday, ABC Factual and ABC Kids — on LG Channels across the US, UK, Canada, Singapore and parts of Europe, taking shows like Gardening Australia and Back Roads global with no subscription or login. It’s awesome to see the very good ABC Kids go global. Read: TV Tonight
Karina Longworth‘s film-history podcast You Must Remember This returns 15 September with an eight-episode season on the bisexuals of Hollywood. I love this podcast and it baffles me how Longworth has never been persuaded to adapt it as a TV series. Read: Variety
King Charles and Queen Camilla opened the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games by stepping out of a life-sized Doctor Who TARDIS, following a pre-recorded sequence with Sylvester McCoy‘s Seventh Doctor. My question: The Commonwealth Games are on? Read: Radio Times
Already forcing me into buying an X-Files LEGO set in a few weeks time, the toy brick company unveiled its first-ever Star Trek: The Original Series set at San Diego Comic-Con — the 1,701-piece U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge (#11385), with eight minifigures and four tribbles, out 1 September for $199 to mark Star Trek’s 60th anniversary. Read: Polygon
Trailer Park
Don’t Say Good Luck debuts August 14 on Netflix.
In this coming-of-age dramedy, Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical - until suddenly she's living with even more drama at home than on the stage. Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield also star.
Tires returns to Netflix for season three on August 12.
Avatar: Seven Havens debuts on Paramount+ Oct 9.
La captura debuts on Netflix at a date TBA.
Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss in this crime drama based on true events.
Marvel’s Wolverine debuts on PS5 September 15.
MLB at Field of Dreams streams on Netflix August 13.
The Phillies face the Twins as Major League Baseball returns to the Iowa cornfields for a nostalgic night of America's favorite pastime.
Coyote Vs ACME debuts in US cinemas August 28.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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