Source : the age
Will Forte could not have been prouder of Coyote vs Acme. The live-action animation hybrid, in which a disgruntled Wile E. Coyote and his lawyer (played by Forte) face off against John Cena in a chaotic courtroom battle, was one of the most entertaining – and heartwarming – projects he’d worked on. His wife, after watching it for the first time, even told him it was hands-down the best thing he’d ever done.
So it’s safe to say that its inexplicable axing in 2023 sent Forte into a head-spin.
“This was a movie that I wanted so badly to share with my kids, but [I realised] I was never going to get to. It was confusing, frustrating and heartbreaking. I was just pissed,” said the American actor and comedian, who is known for his stint on Saturday Night Live and, more recently, Tina Fey’s The Four Seasons.
Coyote vs Acme, Dave Green’s absurd comedy in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, was ready to hit screens when it was suddenly shelved by Warner Bros in November 2023. Despite ongoing praise from its producers, overwhelmingly positive test screenings and a $US70 million budget, the studio decided it would be better off as a $US30 million tax write-off. Its fate mirrored that of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt, both of which were cancelled by Warner Bros the year prior.
“With the relaunch of Warner Bros Pictures Animation in June, the studio has shifted its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases,” a WB Motion Picture Group spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. “With this new direction, we have made the difficult decision not to move forward with Coyote vs Acme. We have tremendous respect for the filmmakers, casts and crew, and are grateful for their contributions to the film.”
The decision was driven by a desire to offset corporate losses, a strategy spearheaded by the studio’s new head, David Zaslav. But for those who worked on the film, as well as the Looney Tunes fans feverishly anticipating its release, it was a punch to the gut.
“We heard that Warner Bros was going to shelve it, but they still said we could come see the movie that next Tuesday. So, for the five or six days before that screening, I thought, ‘This is probably going to suck. If they’re going to shelve it, it can’t be good. Maybe these producers are just too deep in it to see that’. Then I showed up [to the screening] and I just loved it with all my heart. I was so proud of it, which was heartbreaking. I got so mad for a long time,” Forte says.
The film’s cancellation was especially disappointing given how broad he expected its appeal to be. Based on a 1990 New Yorker article by Ian Frazier, Coyote vs Acme tells Wile E. Coyote’s story. Fed up by the countless Acme products that have malfunctioned – costing him his lifelong dream of capturing the Road Runner – he decides to sue the major corporation with the help of Kevin Avery (Forte), a down-and-out billboard lawyer. This results in the unlikely pair going head-to-head with Acme’s chief executive, Foghorn Leghorn, as well as his ruthless lawyer Buddy Crane (Cena).
For Looney Tunes fans, it delivers a healthy dose of nostalgia, reconnecting audiences with “old buddies”. Forte himself says the cartoons helped to form his comedic mind from a young age, subconsciously inspiring him to weave some of its madcap absurdity into his own comedy. That said, you don’t need to be a fan to enjoy this film. It has “a bit of everything”, Forte says, from legal drama to slapstick comedy.
“It’s just this weird thing of: The movie’s testing really well, and it’s your IP [intellectual property]. If you’re not going to take a chance on that, what are you going to take a chance on?”
Beyond the upset and disappointment, however, lay a painfully ironic parallel. Coyote vs Acme is largely Wile E. Coyote’s story. It’s an underdog tale, or as Forte puts it, a tale about “the little guy against the big corporation”. Everyone, from the cast and crew to the fans, immediately noticed the connection between Coyote’s journey and the film itself. If anything, it just made the movie even more resonant, Forte says, not only to himself but to every other Looney Tunes lover.
As soon as the film was scrapped, fans and industry heads went to battle on social media, launching relentless campaigns in a bid to pressure Warner Bros into selling the project to another studio.
“Disappointed, and somewhat mystified by the Coyote vs Acme news,” the film’s composer Steven Price wrote on X. “Dave Green made (and completed) an excellent movie, and a lot of people – not least the brilliant musicians and colleagues who worked with me on the score – poured their hearts into it … that’s (f—) all folks!”
Writer-director BenDavid Grabinski, who received an off-screen additional literary credit for the film, lamented Warner Bros’ decision, writing on X that Coyote vs Acme was “the best of its kind” since Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
“The leads are super likable. It’s beautifully shot. The animation is great. The ending makes everyone f—ing cry,” he wrote. “I thought the goal of this business was to make hit movies?”
Looney Tunes fans even released an online petition urging Warner Bros to release Coyote vs Acme, attracting 23,483 supporters. It was in this response that Forte discovered a silver lining. “It was a good lesson in the power of people,” he says. “Fans of the movie did not give up. They had hope when I didn’t.”
It was their “constant noise-making”, he says, that eventually caught the attention of another studio: Ketchup Entertainment.
In late March 2025, Ketchup – a far smaller studio than Warner Bros, but one that has released hits such as Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) – acquired the rights to Coyote vs Acme in a deal reportedly worth about $US50 million. And now, nearly three years since it was axed, it’s finally set to appear on Australian screens on September 17.
Ketchup has become something of a saving grace for Looney Tunes, having also recently released The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, another film jettisoned by Warner Bros. This movie, which is entirely animated, managed to gross $US8.2 million in domestic ticket sales after just three weeks in cinemas.
In a slightly twisted way, Forte says he’s actually grateful to Warner Bros for cancelling Coyote vs Acme.
“It might have all happened for a reason,” he says. “As much as I think they made a mistake not putting it in theatres themselves, I’m thankful that they let somebody else do it. And look, I understand it’s always a crap-shoot. They’re making a business decision … [but] it might be because of that craziness that we went through – that rollercoaster ride that Warner Bros put us through – that might make more people hear about the movie.”
It certainly was a tough journey, he says. But neither the fans nor those involved in the film gave up on it – just like Coyote refused to give up on catching the Road Runner.
“This is a character who doesn’t know the word ‘quit’. He’s facing insurmountable odds, and he just still goes for it every single time. He fails spectacularly, picks himself back up, gets a little rest, and then goes out again. It’s a good lesson for people – I wouldn’t say use that in your desire to kill birds or people, but you know, just in that attitude towards positive goals.”
Wile E. was never Forte’s favourite Looney Tunes character – he preferred Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny (aka “the Fonzie of Looney Tunes”) – but the coyote is definitely up there now. Forte developed a deep connection with this wildly resilient character, even before post-production brought him to life and he was just a tennis ball on a stick. Coyote is an underdog who found hope among the madness – just as Forte did with this film.
Coyote vs Acme is in cinemas on September 17.
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