A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: Poor Wile E. Coyote cannot catch a break.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Road Runner) Meep, meep.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROCKET GOING BY)
MARTÍNEZ: Just when it looked like he was finally going to catch the road runner, his Acme rocket-powered roller skates exploded.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROCKET EXPLODING)
MARTÍNEZ: Then there was a time his Acme catapult defied the laws of physics, sending a giant boulder backward instead of forward.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Road Runner) Meep, meep.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOULDERS CRASHING)
MARTÍNEZ: Foiled again, but Wile E. Coyote finally gets even when he lawyers up to sue Acme for defective product. Now, that is the premise of a new movie called "Coyote Vs. Acme." It's a live-action take on the classic Road Runner cartoons with cameos from your favorite "Loony Tunes" characters, and it stars Will Forte as the coyote's attorney.
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WILL FORTE: (As Kevin Avery) Have you ever pulled the rip cord of your parachute and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It's not your fault.
MARTÍNEZ: Will Forte joins us now. Will, really, this feels like a buddy comedy about two lovable losers. I hate to call you a loser there. It's your character. I'm not calling you a loser, but it's Wile E. Coyote and your character, Kevin Avery. So tell us about Kevin Avery.
FORTE: I'm used to that characterization.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter)
FORTE: Kevin Avery is a down-on-his-luck attorney. He's kind of given up. He likes to settle all of his cases. He's not up for the fight. Then he is approached by Wile E. Coyote, who wants to take on the Acme Corporation. So it really is all about the little guy taking on the major corporation. It's a real David vs. Goliath story and it - for people who don't know, this is in the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" vein where it's live action and it's all these animated things who are colliding with the live-action world.
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FORTE: (As Kevin Avery) Excuse me, Your Honor. My client would like me to show you this defective Acme rocket skate. And as you can see, there's a faulty on switch. Nothing.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROCKET SKATES TAKING OFF)
MARTÍNEZ: We've seen Acme's products fail the coyote over and over again for decades and I never thought to think, well, why doesn't he complain about it?
FORTE: Exactly. He is the strong, silent type. I didn't know this until I was doing an interview the other day with the director, and at some point, they were toying with the idea of actually having the coyote speak, which would have - and they very wisely said, like, oh, this feels weird.
MARTÍNEZ: Thank God.
FORTE: We should have him just carry signs and present signs the way he does in the old cartoons. And it's so interesting how emotional I could get over this character that hasn't said a word the entire movie.
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FORTE: (As Kevin Avery) My client has a long history with Acme. You've been using their pwoducts (ph), sorry, products, for decades.
LUIS GUZMAN: (As Judge Troppogrosso) Why is that, if they're so dangewous (ph)?
FORTE: (As Kevin Avery) Well, he doesn't have a choice, really. Acme has a monopoly over all the tools required for Mr. Coyote's work.
GUZMAN: (As Judge Troppogrosso) His work?
FORTE: (As Kevin Avery) Pursuant to Sylvester v. Gonzalez, chased by predator is a legal occupation under the law, right? He may not get a salary, but he works.
You really feel for this character who has historically been the bad guy. He's basically trying to murder this bird and eat it.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
FORTE: And the only crime that this road runner has done has had delicious meat. But, like, at the end of this movie, you feel for Wile E. and you're on his side. But seeing this movie gives a little context to their relationship.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, the story of how this movie finally made it to the screen is almost as interesting as the movie itself. So "Coyote Vs. Acme" was filmed in 2022, scheduled to hit theaters 2023. Warner Bros. moved it to make way for "Barbie." Then the studio shelved "Coyote Vs. Acme" to claim a $30 million tax write-off. They did that to a couple other movies, too, including "Batgirl."
But you kept banging the drum to get it released. How does that process work? Because I think that kind of shocked a lot of people that a studio would make a movie, completely done, and then think about not putting it out on the screen.
FORTE: Yeah. Well, they made it. It was completely done. It was testing really well.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FORTE: It just made no sense to us. We got this news that they were going to shelve it and I just thought, I guess it's not very good. 'Cause why would you do that to a movie that's good? And I was so proud of it and that made it all the more confusing and frustrating. And that turned into a lot of anger over the next couple months.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
FORTE: And finally, I just had to let it go and then out of nowhere, Ketchup Entertainment came and saved it. I was so surprised. I just thought Warner Bros. would never sell it to anybody.
MARTÍNEZ: Did you ever find out, like, why the studio was willing to shelve it? What they didn't like about it? I mean, did you ever get any answers?
FORTE: No. Nothing. You just hear the decision and everyone's pointing the finger at everybody else. Oh, I liked it, but this person wasn't sure. Oh, no, I liked it. But no, it's this person, so - you read this script, you put it into production, you put all this money into it. Any movie's going to be a crap shoot. Why are you not taking a chance on one that's testing really well? I don't know. I didn't make sense. But I don't know.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) So I mean, Warner Bros. is part of this big merger deal with Paramount and Discovery. It's on hold pending an antitrust trial. How does your experience with this movie, "Coyote Vs. Acme, " maybe color your view of this big merger?
FORTE: I - the landscape of Hollywood is shifting every day. When I hear that, I go, oh, OK. I hope they go kick out all the people from Warner Bros. (laughter) who made this decision.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
FORTE: But, you know, definitely, from a creative standpoint, I don't think it's great to be having, you know, this level of consolidation. You know, obviously...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
FORTE: ...I'm most interested in a system that allows, like, fun, unique voices to come out. And I mean, it's so funny because the whole movie is about this underdog fighting a big corporation, and then the whole backstory of what's happened to the movie is the same thing. It's like this little underdog trying to fight this big corporation. So it's been an interesting ride and just so thankful that people are going to get to see it.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Will Forte. His new film is "Coyote Vs. Acme." August 28 is the release. Will, thank you very much for checking in with us.
FORTE: Thank you. Good to talk to you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROAD RUNNER")
BARBARA CAMERON: (Singing) Road Runner, the coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you, you're through. Road Runner, the coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you, you're through. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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