First Look Photo Released For WB's Scrapped Movie COYOTE VS. ACME
Coyote vs. Acme star Eric Bauza has shared a first look image from the Warner Bros. scrapped movie. The photo features the animated Wile E. Coyote, who Bauza voices in the film, and he’s sitting next to Will Forte, who plays Wile E. Coyote's lawyer in the story. You can also see Lana Condor sitting behind them in a courtroom setting.
Warner Bros. shelved the film for a tax write-down. However, after the studio received some backlash against that decision, and WB was labeled an “anti-art studio.” A United States congressman pressured Warner Bros. Discovery into shopping the film around to other distributors. Bauza seems confident that Coyote vs. Acme will find a new home and be released in 2024. The caption with the photo says, "See ya in 2024!!"
Several filmmakers have seen the film and they all had nothing but great things to say about it! You can read their reactions to it here. Actor Paul Scheer said: “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+).“ Chris Miller said: “I saw COYOTE VS ACME and it’s delightful. 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.”
Acme was directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay by Samy Burch and a story by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater and Burch. The story was partially inspired by an article from The New Yorker, which was written by Ian Frazier in 1990, and John Cena stars in the movie as the CEO of Acme.
Will Forte previously talked about how fun it was to make the movie and also shared some details on the story, saying:
"I mean, it was so fun to make this. It came out of this article that I think is decades old. Wiley Coyote is suing the Acme Corporation because of all the different contraptions that have exploded in his face, and stuff like that. And so, I get to play Wile E. Coyote's lawyer, and it's a mixture of animation, and it's like a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? style movie. And yeah, John Cena is so great in it. Lana Condor is in it. It was so much fun making it, and these guys who are making it are so smart. Because you’ve got to figure out where this animated character is going to move to. It was amazing to be a part of it. So, I'm excited to see how it turns out because, of course, I'm acting with a tennis ball a lot of times. There's a tennis ball for an eye-line, and it's moving around. So, yeah, I think, I don't know how much more I can say about it, but I've blathered on for a while.”
I hope we get to see this movie released next year!