I think what actually happened is that they paid $100m to make the movie. Later they determined that releasing it would be detrimental to the success or value o

I think what actually happened is that they paid $100m to make the movie. Later they determined that releasing it would be detrimental to the success or value of the company (e.g. because of reputational damage). To avoid causing this damage they deleted the movie making sure it doesn't get out and wrote off the asset. The act of deleting the movie is not what made it worthless. If executives had really deleted the movie in spite of believing that releasing or selling it would have a net positive value of $30m, then it could still be written off. It's the same as employees stealing inventory or vandalising an office. The company could then fire and sue those employees, but that doesn't change the fact that the asset is now worth zero for accounting purposes.