Coyote vs. Acme has had a wild journey before getting its day in theaters. After some protesting and holding feet to the fire, Ketchup Entertainment is finally bringing Wile E. Coyote’s Looney Tunes courtroom misadventure to the silver screen on August 28.
The film sees Will Forte play the lawyer for Wile E. Coyote, who, after years of his hare-brained schemes to eat the Roadrunner going kaput, takes weapons manufacturer Acme to court for selling him faulty products for years. With Lana Condor by their side, the team must wrestle Acme lawyer John Cena in the court of law to see justice served to the perpetually unlucky Looney Tunes icon.
As noted up top, Coyote vs. Acme‘s storied back-and-forth made folks unsure if they’d ever get to see the film. Coyote vs. Acme started out as a Warner Bros.-produced film that was shelved in 2023 for tax purposes, but the news of its axing led fans and the folks behind it to demand that the already-finished movie be released. Those prayers were finally answered when The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie distributor Ketchup Entertainment swooped in to do just that after giving The Day the Earth Blew Up the movie-theater run it deserved. Naturally, Coyote vs. Acme‘s promotional run included a couple of meta jabs thrown into the trailer and social media posts about it being the movie that “Acme” doesn’t want folks to see. We love a catty bitch.
In the lead-up to its release, io9 had stars Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena approach the bench to talk about their respective journeys witnessing Coyote vs. Acme‘s trajectory, from getting axed to hitting theaters this month.
When asked what their respective seats felt like on the rollercoaster ride of Coyote vs. Acme ever seeing the light of day over the last six years, Forte, Cena, and Condor provided a Goldilocks-and-the-Three-Bears-worthy assortment of answers.
“It was the whole spectrum of emotions all the way to the very top,” Forte said, playing off my roller coaster analogy. “It was extreme excitement as we were making it. It turned out exactly the way we wanted it to. The post-production was going up the hill, then it fell off a cliff for a while. That was frustrating and sad, and made me angry for a while. Then back to positive and excitement as Ketchup Entertainment came in and picked it up.”
Looking back, Forte said he chooses to believe that everything happens for a reason, and because of the “crazy journey” Coyote vs. Acme has been on, it might have even helped the movie get more eyes on it than it would’ve had if it had been released as originally intended.
“This is the first time in my career that this has happened before [and] I’m hoping it’s the last,” Condor said, sharing the same sentiments with Forte on the highs and lows of the film being in limbo. “But it was definitely one of those moments in one’s career that it’s devastating not only for yourself, but—way more importantly—for hundreds of artists who have worked on it for years. I was grieving so much for everyone in front of the camera, but even more for everyone behind the camera.”
While attending the “funeral screening” of Coyote vs. Acme alongside the cast and crew—who, at the time, were told it would be the “first and last time” anyone would get to see the film before any headwinds were made on a theatrical release—Condor felt deep in her bones that one day, “the world would see it.”
“I couldn’t let myself get to a true place of ‘Oh my god, all for nothing!’ Because I genuinely had optimism,” she continued. “I genuinely believed—because of how good it was—that it would be seen.”
Cena, ever the consummate pragmatist, shed light on how his philosophy as a now-retired professional wrestler with WWE tied to his view of his role as an actor in the once-troubled hybrid animated film.
“As performers, we believe the process is, ‘Perform the work, and the world should see it.’ I think, sometimes, that’s taken for granted. I come from a background of live entertainment where sometimes your segment gets shortened, sometimes it gets cut, sometimes your opponents change, sometimes [there are] creative changes right up until the second you come out to perform,” Cena said. “Essentially, the process for us is to perform for the person financing the movie, deliver the movie to that entity; it is theirs to do what they want.”
Cena acknowledged that he himself takes for granted the idea that all movies should be seen, when in reality that’s not necessarily always the case when the “owner” of the art can “do whatever they want with it.”
“Sometimes, that’s a jagged pill to swallow. But it’s because the process is 99 point nine [percent of the time] repeating, ‘Do movie, owner distributes it to the masses,’ I think my background in being able to pivot and having my expectations constantly moved allowed me to weather this storm a little bit better than anyone else,” Cena said.
He continued, “Everyone worked tremendously hard, everyone was compensated for their efforts, and the owner of the purchased art—whether it be our movie or the Mona Lisa—chose to store it. And they bought it to do that. It didn’t make much sense, but even in their explanation, I have to be empathetic. This would help our greater business model. I’m empathetic to that. [But] the ones who suffer are the ones who don’t get their work seen.”
At the end of the day, Cena appreciated the experience (and loved my question) because it was an exercise in empathy to try to see the best from all sides and witness the ensuing supply and demand that led folks who believed in Coyote vs. Acme to will it back into existence and receive a theatrical release.
“So many people were like, ‘I would like to see this,’ that someone with resources said, ‘I’m going to take it out of the plastic bag. Now I own it. Now everyone can see it,’” Cena said. “That’s really rewarding because that’s the backbone of what we try to do.”
Cena went on to compare his experience working on Coyote vs. Acme to an entity using an enormous amount of resources to bring out a musician to play for them. The musician could play the best they’ve ever played in their life, but at the end of the day, it’s for the person paying to do with that performance as they see fit.
“As a performer, not taking the process for granted of the luxury of having audiences see our work is something very special. Although that happens the majority of the time, it’s not always the case,” he said. “I really am grateful for the supply and demand issue because now everybody is going to see this movie.”
Coyote vs. Acme hits theaters on August 28.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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