> that's almost certainly less than the value of the tax write-off
Please explain.
If the value drops to 1 million dollars, can't you write off the rest?
If you can't, then that is exactly the problem here, there's a flaw in tax law causing destruction.
> You'll need licensing contracts, lawyer time, accounting time, and again, all the various contractual obligations that kick in on release.
They already did 99% of the contracts they need.
> 1) They can still make it impossible to recover enough of the expense costs to make releasing the film worthwhile.
I already addressed this in the comment you replied to. Sell to a streaming service in that case. But I doubt it would make that little. Also that's a big percentage to not even be part of the distribution cost.
> 2) You still need to expect to make your expenses back, regardless. Again in the above example, say instead your gross revenue contracts are only $2 million. Great, you've earned $13 million, on an expenses budget of $60 million. Not even close to beginning to pay for the expenses incurred.
No you don't "need to" do the impossible.
You already spent the $60 million, and deleting the film won't make the money reappear.
Do you want to be $60M in the hole, or do you want to be $47M in the hole?
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So summary: If they think a theatrical release requires so many dollars it's still a waste, that's one thing (though I reserve skepticism). If they won't sell it off to the highest bidder, for which they have to do almost nothing, that's a very different thing.
Destroying everything probably costs just as much as selling it off.
