Congressman Joaquin Castro Calls For Investigation Into WBD’s Handling Of ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’

Texas congressman Joaquin Castro (D) has called for a federal investigation into Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to kill off the completely finished film Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off.

Posting to social media, Castro wrote:

The @WBD tactic of scrapping fully made films for tax breaks is predatory and anti-competitive.

As the Justice Department and @FTC revise their antitrust guidelines they should review this conduct.

As someone remarked, it’s like burning down a building for the insurance money.

Castro’s call carries extra weight since, as he mentioned in his post, federal investigators have recently opened antitrust lawsuits against other tech, media, and entertainment companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Ticketmaster.

The congressman’s request feels particularly authentic given that this isn’t the first time this year he has publicly criticized WBD’s business practices. In April, Castro, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Congress members David Cicilline and Pramila Jayapal asked the Justice Department to investigate the state of competition in affected labor and consumer markets following the Warner Bros./Discovery merger.

When news of WBD’s decision to kill off Coyote vs. Acme went wide last week, it was met with immediate outrage from the entertainment community, especially from artists who worked on the film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, some filmmakers even told their agents to stop booking meetings with WBD.

The studio has since reversed its decision to bury the film and will allow the filmmakers to shop their movie to other distributors. How that may impact possible Justice Department intervention remains to be seen.