Wile E. Coyote will finally have his day in court against the ACME Corporation in a new live action/animated movie. Looney Tunes voice actor Eric Bauza has shared a new image from the upcoming film Coyote vs. Acme.
See ya in 2024!! 🦊🪧🧲🧨💣💥 #CoyoteVsACME pic.twitter.com/5jaGQyLdiJ
— Eric Bauza (@bauzilla) December 31, 2023
The image shows an animated Wile E. Coyote in a live action courtroom. The film’s style of combining animation and live action is similar to Space Jam (1996) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). In the picture, the classic cartoon character is joined by Will Forte, who plays Wile E.’s lawyer in the film.
In the classic Looney Tunes shorts, Wile E. Coyote uses products created by the ACME Corporation in his pursuit to catch the Road Runner. However, the products always backfire and injure him instead. In Coyote vs. Acme, Wile E. hires Forte’s lawyer character to help him sue ACME.
In addition to Forte, the film will also star John Cena as the ACME Corporation’s lawyer. Bauza will voice Wile E. Coyote in the film.
Coyote vs. Acme was directed by Dave Green. Green previously directed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) and Earth to Echo (2014). The film’s screenplay was written by Sammy Burch. It is based on the humor article “Coyote vs. Acme” by Ian Frazier, which was published in The New Yorker in 1990.
The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on July 21, 2023, before Warner Bros. gave the date to Barbie instead. However, on November 9, 2023, Warner Bros. cancelled the release of the film, and planned to use the movie as a tax write-off. Coyote vs. Acme was the third film scrapped by the studio following the merger of Warner Media and Discovery Inc., and under the leadership of CEO David Zaslav. In August 2022, Warner Bros. cancelled the release of the superhero movie Batgirl, which starred Leslie Grace, as well as J. K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon and Michael Keaton as Batman. That same day, the studio also scrapped the animated film Scoob! Holiday Haunt, which was a prequel to Scoob! (2020). Both Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt were used as tax write-offs by Warner Bros.
However, on November 13, it was reported that Warner Bros. was instead shopping the movie to other distributors. The potential buyers include Prime Video, Apple, Netflix, and Paramount. Although an official release date hasn’t been announced, Bauza wrote in the post “See ya in 2024!!”
Coyote vs. Acme is one of many recent projects starring the Looney Tunes characters. Earlier this year, new episodes of Looney Tunes Cartoons were released on Max. The characters also star in the educational series Bugs Bunny Builders, which airs on Cartoon Network. In September, Tiny Toons Looniversity premiered on Max. The series is a reboot of the 90s animated series Tiny Toon Adventures, and features the Looney Tunes mentoring a young group of cartoon characters at Acme Looniversity. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig will also star in a new movie titled The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. Unlike other Looney Tunes films like Coyote vs. Acme or Space Jam, The Day the Earth Blew Up will be a fully animated movie.
Many of the classic Looney Tunes shorts, as well as Looney Tunes Cartoons and Tiny Toons Looniversity are now available to stream on Max.
