Warner Bros. Will No Longer Release Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Fixed’
Warner Bros. will no longer release Genndy Tartakovsky’s hand-drawn 2d film Fixed, per a report in the Puck newsletter that has subsequently been confirmed by other media outlets. The adult comedy is about a dog’s wild last day before getting neutered.
According to Puck’s Matthew Belloni:
The project, a co-production of Warners’ New Line and Sony Pictures, was finished last year, with a voice cast including Adam Devine and Kathryn Hahn. But Warners has decided not to release it. Instead, it has given the movie back to Sony, which is now trying to sell it to a streamer or another distributor. Without a buyer, Fixed will probably meet the same fate as Batgirl or Coyote vs. Acme.
As Belloni indicated, the film was wrapped up last year – October 2023 is the date we’ve heard – and has been awaiting a release slot ever since. Though produced by Sony Pictures Animation, it was made in partnership and funded by Warner Bros.’ New Line Cinema, the latter of which has backed out of the deal, apparently as part of one of WBD CEO David Zaslav’s dubious (and, quite possibly, illegal) money-saving schemes.
Though the distribution rights have since returned to Sony Pictures Animation, the company doesn’t appear to be interested in releasing the film itself and is now exploring other distribution options.
Fixed’s demise at Warner Bros. makes it the third fully-completed animation feature that the studio has opted to not release, following Scoob! Holiday Haunt and the hybrid Warner Animation Group production Coyote vs. Acme. It should be noted that it is comletely without historical precedent for a Hollywood studio to consistently produce animated features and not release them.
But the reality is that if WBD can’t make money on Fixed, it’s unlikely they’re going to be able to make money on other animated films either. There were so many factors working in favor of Tartakovsky’s latest project, starting with the fact that it was a cost-savvy, low-risk production. We’ve heard the budget was in the ballpark of $30 million, a drop in the bucket by U.S. feature animation standards and far easier to recoup than a bigger-budgeted film. Second, it came from a highly bankable director whose three entries in the Hotel Transylvania series have generated over $1.36 billion in box office. And finally, Warner Bros. of all companies should have known the gift that they were getting with this film; it’s not like Tartakovsky hasn’t spent decades creating some of WB’s most iconic and original contemporary shows, including Dexter’s Laboratory, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and Samurai Jack, not to mention the currently-in-production Primal.
Warner Bros. currently has one other animated feature scheduled for release this year – The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – which is set to come out December 13 via New Line Cinema. Whether it gets released is anyone’s guess.
