Fans can often cast studio CEOs as villains, blaming them for creative decisions or lackluster products. Kathleen Kennedy was raked over the coals for being President of Lucasfilm during the sequel trilogy, and Bob Iger got blamed for so much during his tenure at Disney. But when it comes to David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, there are some moves that very much sound like a villain enacting an evil plan.
Beginning with Batgirl, WBD would occasionally choose not to release a movie at all, even after it was completely done and ready to be released, for the tax write-off. It was always met with fan uproar, but in one specific example — the Looney Tunes movie Coyote vs. Acme — fan uproar caused the film to be shopped to other markets. Ketchup Entertainment eventually acquired it and gave it a theatrical release, even though it was first announced as a streaming film. Now, it’s looking like this nightmare scenario has actually been great for the movie’s success.
