Coyote vs. ACME: See First Photo From the Shelved Warner Bros. Movie Now Seeking a Streaming Home
Neither Wile E. Coyote nor lawyer Will Forte look at all confident about their case in a first photo from Coyote vs. ACME, the live-action/animation hybrid film that Warner Bros. recently decided to shelve, and as such now is seeking a streaming home.
Veteran voice actor Eric Bauza, who plays Wile E., shared the first-look photo on Sunday via X (fka Twitter/how much longer do we have to keep making that delineation for everyone?).
Directed by Dave Green (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) and written by Samy Burch (May December) from a story by Burch, now-DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn (Peacemaker) and Jeremy Slater (The Umbrella Academy), Coyote vs. Acme comedically details what happens when the plaintiff, whose infamous pursuit of the Road Runner has many, many a time been waylaid by defective (and often very explosive) ACME products, hires Forte’s character to sue the conglomerate.
John Cena (Peacemaker) plays the lead attorney for ACME, who is the former boss of Forte’s character. Other cast members include Lana Condor (To All the Boys I Loved Before) and P.J. Byrne (The Boys).
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As reported in early November, Warner Bros. elected to shelve the produced film and instead take a $30 million tax write-down, akin to what it did with the Batgirl movie in summer 2022. But almost immediately, there were cries for someone, even a streaming service, to pony up enough bucks to make WB agree to forego the write-down.
A mid-November screening bolstered the chances of that happening, as the likes of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (of The LEGO Movie and the Spider-Verse movies) sang its praises.
“I saw COYOTE VS ACME and it’s delightful,” Miller said on X. “Funny, charming, good physical comedy timing, with a surprising amount of heart. I hope several studios go after it so the world can see all the good work people did.” Added Lord: “Coyote vs. Acme is wonderful. @dgreenmachine nails it. Hilarious smart existential and moving and moves this all time character more relevant than ever.”
Actor/comedian Paul Scheer meanwhile opined on Threads, “Coyote vs. Acme might be the best version of the Looney Tunes on the Big Screen ever. @dgreenmachine & samyburch nailed it. It’s got jokes, it’s got heart and it’s got Will Forte. You can’t miss (also the deep pulls w/ cartoon cameos are A+).“
