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The firing of Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pamela Abdy in the wake of the studio’s acquisition by Paramount-Skydance has been the focus of much reporting this week. TheWrap learned that both executives finally received calls from Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison on Friday, informing each of them that they would not be brought aboard the combined companies. The duo had already learned that they would be dismissed from a Puck report earlier in the week.
One filmmaker that doesn’t seem to be mourning Abdy and De Luca’s exit is Michael Kurinsky. The director was behind “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” a sequel to the 2020 Scooby-Doo animated feature “Scoob!,” which was shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022 after completing production. The decision to never release the feature allowed the studio to take a tax write-down, recouping a portion of its production costs.
On Friday, Kurinsky made a post on Instagram, sharing a Hollywood Reporter article on a “tense phone call” that De Luca and Abdy had in the lead-up to their ultimate exit from the studio.
“TENSE PHONE CALL, PAM? You mean like the one I got when you told me SCOOB Holiday Haunt was canceled?” Kurisnky wrote. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Kurinsky has publicly aired his frustrations with the studio’s decision to cancel “Holiday Haunt” before. In a 2022 interview, the animation veteran told Variety’s Carson Burton that “in our phone calls that we had with people, they explained … we are taking this tax write-off, we can’t monetize it. That’s how it was explained to me.”
Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Along with “Holiday Haunt,” Warner Bros.’ film division also shelved a live-action “Batgirl” movie and the Looney Tunes feature “Coyote vs. Acme” for tax-related purposes. The transactions were made possible due to the studio’s then-recent acquisition by Discovery. While “Batgirl” remains unreleased, “Coyote vs. Acme” was eventually acquired by Ketchup Entertainment for a sum close to $50 million. The comedy released in August and has earned more than $93 million globally.
The post ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ Director Spikes Pamela Abdy and Mike De Luca After Warner Bros. Shelved Film: ‘Hurts, Doesn’t It?’ appeared first on TheWrap.