Hollywood studio Warner Bros is in negotiations for the sale of its scrapped movie, "Coyote vs Acme", starring John Cena.
According to entertainment news outlet Deadline, Ketchup Entertainment is expected to land distribution rights for “Coyote vs Acme”. Though the sale has not closed, the price tag will reportedly be in the USD 50 million range.
The decision comes more than a year after the studio surprised the film's team by pulling the plug on the project which had finished filming. The aim behind the move was to claim a tax-write off.
Ketchup had last year rescued the same studio's "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie", which finally released in the US theatres earlier this month.
Made on a budget of USD 70 million, “Coyote vs. Acme”, a live action-animation hybrid starring John Cena and Lana Condor, was directed by Dave Green and produced by DC Studios co-chief James Gunn.
It was the third movie that Warner Bros has axed for tax incentives. The studio had earlier discarded its DC adventure movie "Batgirl", followed by "Scoob! Holiday Haunt".
At the time, Green had expressed his disappointment about Warners' decision to axe "Coyote vs Acme", a movie that took three years to make.
"Along the ride, we were embraced by test audiences who rewarded us with fantastic scores. I am beyond proud of the final product," the filmmaker wrote on social media.
