The Entire Plot of 'Coyote vs. Acme' Was Leaked Anonymously (2024)

The Coyote vs. Acme saga seemingly has one final twist of the knife before Warner Bros. kills the film off for good. An anonymous source has reportedly leaked the entire plot of the axed Looney Tunes movie online, giving everyone a chance to see what was potentially lost with its unceremonious death. The story, penned by Samy Burch, would've drawn heavily from the animated classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit? for a whacky, comedic, and very meta legal drama with mystery elements and plenty of deep cuts to animated characters, actors, and creators from throughout Warner Bros. history.

Coyote vs. Acme would have taken place in a Roger Rabbit-style world where humans and cartoons live together and Acme is a major parent company at the head of some of the biggest products in the world. Wile E. Coyote, who only speaks in signs and cartoonish expressions, hires Kevin Avery (Will Forte) of the Avery, Jones, and Maltese law firm to take the conglomerate to court for every single Acme product of his career trying to catch the Road Runner. They soon find themselves stuck in a no-win legal battle against Acme as Avery faces his tyrannical old acquaintance Buddy Crane (John Cena), a hot-shot attorney representing the company and its crooked animated products department head, Foghorn Leghorn. Throughout the film, Avery and Wile E. would have forged a bond as they search for a smoking gun to prove Acme's corruption.

While the general synopsis for the film was known, the outline shows the creativity and love for all things Looney Tunes of the creative team. Avery and Wile. E's investigation would have seen them visit other Tunes like Daffy Duck, Granny, Tweety, and (Senator) Elmer Fudd, affected by Acme's greed while being stalked and threatened by someone who doesn't want them to reach the truth. The whole trial turns out to be one giant scheme for Wile. E to catch the Road Runner, he and Avery overcome their squabbles to uncover a secret Acme program to test intentionally faulty products on cartoons to learn more about their physics-defying invulnerability. To top it off, an animated version of Casablanca star Peter Lorre in his Dr. Lorre form introduced in "Hare-Raising Hare" plays an integral role in the story as an homage to the Looney Tunes animators' love for depicting him.

Warner Bros. Never Gave 'Coyote vs. Acme' a Chance

Alas, that story will likely never see the light of day as Warner Bros., under the David Zaslav regime, opted to scrap it for the tax write-down rather than release it or sell it to a more willing distributor. In reality, there was never really any hope after the film was initially saved, as Zaslav and the executives never saw the film before deciding to kill it. Although they let director Dave Green and the team shop it around, they proposed absurd take-it-or leave-it offers of $75 to $80 million USD for respective buyers who weren't even aware the offers were final, making the chances of any deal coming together almost non-existent. It's the third film that Zaslav and company have axed alongside Scoob! Holiday Haunt and Batgirl, which only reinforces the company's reputation for being anti-art.

We'll never know exactly how that story would've translated to a finished product, but reactions from those who saw the Coyote vs. Acme behind closed doors were over the moon. Spider-Verse duo Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, for example, highly enjoyed the feature, which they praised for being "Funny, charming, good physical comedy timing, with a surprising amount of heart," while also lauding Green, Burch, Gunn, and Slater for doing Wile E. Coyote justice. Overall, the film tested very well with audiences leading up to its demise, further making Warner Bros' decision to scrap it all the more baffling. Forte, for his part, recently offered a heartfelt thank you to the crew for their hard work on the live-action animation hybrid.

You can read the full outline of Coyote vs. Acme's plot here. Stay tuned here at Collider for more developments regarding the scrapped Looney Tunes film.

Coyote Vs. Acme

A story set in the ACME warehouse, the manufacturer of anything and everything used by the Looney Tunes characters.

Release Date

2020-00-00

Director

Dave Green

Cast

John Cena , Lana Condor , Will Forte , P.J. Byrne

Main Genre

Animation