Coyote Vs. Acme director Dave Green says he felt a strong responsibility when it came to updating classic Looney Tunes characters for a 2020s audience.
“That is part of the challenge and the hope and the responsibility we have: it’s updating these characters for modern audiences while keeping their essences true to who those characters have always been,” Green tells GamesRadar+, when asked about the film being an entry point to Looney Tunes for today’s kids.
“Myself and my team were really… our preference was really to not put too much of a heavy modern spin on these characters and really to honor who they are, who they’ve been, and not try to change them,” Green continues. “They’re on a rental system. Like Eric Bauza, the voiceover artist who does so many voices in this movie, he always says when he’s doing one of these great voices that Mel Blanc originated: ‘We’re just, you know, borrowing the keys to the Cadillac, and I promise to never give it a scratch and return it washed and with more gas in the tank.”
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The upcoming live-action/computer-animated hybrid comedy is based on the 1990 non-fiction New Yorker story of the same name by Ian Frazier, which sees a fed-up Wile E. Coyote decide to sue the ACME corporation after years and years of failing to capture the Roadrunner. The movie sees Wile team up with a reluctant lawyer named Kevin Avery (Will Forte) in order to bring them down… and the two end up uncovering a much darker secret in the process. Green directs from a screenplay penned by Samy Burch.
The film is tastefully stuffed with some of our favorite Looney Tunes characters, from a classic like Tweety Bird to a fan-favorite like Peter Lorre. Elmer Fudd plays a senator, with Foghorn Leghorn being the impossibly evil spokesperson for Acme. And of course Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck each make an appearance. While Bauza voices the majority of the Tunes, Candi Milo voices a few underrated characters, including Granny… whom she also voiced in Space Jam: A New Legacy, and King Tweety.
In terms of Looney Tunes references, the film takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico (if you know, you know), with the name Kevin Avery being a reference to Tex Avery – the animator who brought Bugs and Daffy to life all the way back in 1937.
Green adds: “And that’s really what we’re doing here. We’re trying to protect legacies that are so much older than us and treat them right, but also have a lot of fun with these characters and have fun with this sandbox that we’ve been lucky to play in.”
Coyote vs. Acme hits theaters on August 28, 2026. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies heading your way.
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