Cancellation of Coyote vs Acme
"Is it anticompetitive if one of the biggest movie studios in the world shuns the marketplace in order to use a tax loophole to write off an entire movie so they can more easily merge with one of the bigger movie studios in the world? 'Cause it SEEMS anticompetitive."
— Phil Lord
Coyote vs Acme is an unreleased live action/animated legal comedy film distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation as well as Two Monkeys, A Goat and Another, Dead, Monkey. Based on the Looney Tunes franchise, the film is directed by Dave Green and produced by James Gunn and Chris DeFaria. The film starred Will Forte as Wile E. Coyote's lawyer and John Cena as Acme's lawyer and would've told the story of Wile E. Coyote trying to sue Acme after many failed attempts at catching the Road Runner. Wile E. meets a down-and-out billboard human attorney who together have determination to win the court case against Acme as it pits them against the intimidating boss of Wile E.'s lawyer's former law firm, who now represents Acme.
Production
The film was in development since 2018 when Chris McKay was attached to direct the project. In December 2020, McKay left the project, while Jon and Josh Silberman left their producing roles and returned to screenwriting duties alongside Samy Burch, Jeremy Slater, and James Gunn. The film is said to draw inspiration from inspiration from the fictional 1990 New Yorker article of the same name by Ian Frazier. Editor Carsten Kurpanek described the film's story as a "David vs Goliath story" that tackles Wile E. Coyote's persistence in the face of the ACME Corporation's "cynical and casual cruelness of capitalism and corporate greed".
Principal photography took place from March to May 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with Brandon Trost serving as cinematographer. Albuquerque was chosen as a filming location due to being a famous refrence related to Bugs Bunny while Road Runner and Wile E. often reside in the deserty location. The visual effects would've been done by DNGE for some Looney Tunes characters who play more major roles with the CGI being similar to the Tom and Jerry 2021 film as it had characters staying true to their 2D looks sketchviz artists guiding the animators. Tunes who appear in simple cameo roles would've been animated via traditional animation by Duncan Studio.
Leaked Script
At one point the story got leaked on X as it did mention most of the plot and elementents. Go here if you want to see it yourself.
- As expected with most Looney Tunes media, Coyote wouldn't talk as he would mostly use sign language.
- Acme in the film is depicted as a very large conglomerate as it has implications of being the parent company to several real world corporations.
- The other characters who were confirmed to be in the movie included an animated version of Peter Lorre (who got captured via a portable hole), Foghorn Leghorn (who would've been the head of Acme's products), Daffy Duck (who was at an asylum), Tweety (an Acme operative), Granny (who wanted to marry Lorre at one point), Porky Pig (according to a leaked filming shot), Prissy (who gets ejected out of the courtroom), Elmer Fudd (congressmen), Yosemite Sam (according to concept art where he works at a bar), and Marvin (who appears near the end as he gets a job in Acme after Leghorn's departure).
- There is a project called Project Sisypus where Leghorn in the 80s began his job where he made numerous changes thus beginning painful and dangerous tests on the toons. Cartoon characters and objects obey through the laws of physics in order to improve the human side of products thus sacrificing the toon side of products. In fact, Leghorn made a rant as to why he did the project due to how toons are typically immortal despite the project causing lots of pain.
- Many of the Tunes would've been portrayed with gray morality.
- At one point, the Road Runner testifies that he does care about Coyote thus causing Coyote to not use his Goldberg trap on the Roadrunner (tho it ends up being used on Leghorn for his arrestment). After that a bunch of toons come to press charges against Acme while Lorre has a reunion with Granny. One scene near the end also has Foghorn and his lawyer in jail playing golf. The film ends with Coyote and Road Runner chasing like usual ending with the ides that Coyote will one day catch the Road Runner.
- Coyote's lawyer would've worked for a law firm called the Avery, Jones, and Maltese Law Firm and is always taken the easy path to his career.
Release
At one point it was going to be released in July of 2023 yet Barbie took its time slot. As time went by, it was announced on November that Coyote vs Acme was completed but Warner Bros. didn't want to release it due to tax reasons. The move drew criticism from filmmakers, animation outlets, and talent representatives. Several filmmakers left angry phone calls with Warner Bros. expressing their frustration at the move. Others also canceled meetings with the studio. Many test screeners praised the film including Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Michael Chaves, and Daniel Scheinert. Eventually on that same month, Warner Bros. decided to reverse the situation allowed the filmmakers the option to shop the film to other distributors with Amazon, Apple Studios, Netflix, and even Paramount and Sony Pictures. The bids were rejected but the fate of the film is unclear thonit remains avaliable for acquisition.
Response
As with the initial cancellation, TheWrap's report on the film's possible final cancellation drew online criticism. The hashtags ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme and SaveCoyoteVsAcme, along with other hashtags relating to it, started trending on February 9, 2024.
Bauza in the 51st Annie Awards by using his voice acting talent to voice Bugs and Daffy to demand the film to be released.
Will Forte later released a statement after seeing the final cut of the film as he flet bad for everyone who won't be able to see it. Directors Aldi El Arbi and Bilall Fallah who directed the unreleased Batgirl film said that "movies must be seen by the audience, and the audience must judge them."
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