When I interviewed voice actor Eric Bauza on February 27 about the grassroots campaign to help save Coyote vs. Acme, of which he’s been a prominent voice in, he asked me when the story would publish – which isn’t unusual, but in this case, he’s specifically asking due to the rapid pace at which this insane industry story moves from day-to-day.
“What if we hang up this Zoom and suddenly everyone knows, ‘oh, by the way, it's going to be in theaters nationwide’ ?”
Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but he was right: in between my interview with him and this story publishing, there was indeed a development, with star Will Forte posting a heartfelt message after getting to see the movie himself.
"When I first heard that our movie was getting 'deleted,' I hadn't seen it yet," Forte wrote. "So I was thinking what everyone else must have been thinking: this thing must be a hunk of junk. But then I saw it. And it's incredible."
Forte’s own comments are in line with the filmmakers who have gotten to see it, with everyone from Scott Pilgrim Takes Off co-creator BenDavid Grabinski to Everything Everywhere All at Once directors The Daniels singing its praises after it was unceremoniously shelved by Warner Bros. last November. That shelving was the beginning of an ongoing saga that continues to this day, leading to a fan and industry campaign to save the film from permanent cancellation (which, according to reports, unfortunately looks likely at this point). Or, as Bauza points out, it’s made Coyote vs. Acme “the most-talked about film that no one's seen.”
Bauza’s a longtime Looney Tunes vet who estimates that he voiced around 10 characters in the movie, from Bugs Bunny to Daffy Duck to some of Roadrunner’s “beep beep!” noises (but not, as some headlines have suggested, Wile E. Coyote, who doesn’t talk). And, if you’re active in film and animation spaces on X/Twitter, you might also know he’s been on the frontlines of #ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme, that aforementioned campaign to save the film from deletion.
And yes, Bauza has seen Coyote vs. Acme – and yes, he loved it.
“I went to almost all of the test screenings that were here in LA and people loved it,” he tells IGN. “And I'll tell you why: it's because it was just a simple story. I have been with these characters for almost 20 years now. It's kind of amazing. I voiced Marvin the Martian, and I've been a part of these guys in feature films, TV shows, preschool shows, commercials, shoe endorsements. I've seen them used in all sorts of ways. And Coyote vs. Acme was one of those first times [where I], and at least me as a fan, witnessed this kind of fun simple story about this guy that we know never gets his way and how is it going to work out? And I thought it was great for any Looney Tunes fan and any cartoon fan, they would've totally enjoyed it.”
In our interview, Bauza reflected on the crazy past few months Coyote vs. Acme has seen as it was shot, shelved, put on the market, and then seemingly shelved again.
Strong Beginnings
Coyote vs. Acme was first announced back in 2022, a decently high-profile project with John Cena set to star, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows’ Dave Green on board to direct, and James Gunn attached to produce. A live-action/CG animation hybrid that’s been compared to Who Framed Roger Rabbit by those who’ve seen it, it was based on a satirical New Yorker article of the same name, which had Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation for all their failed inventions in his pursuit of the Road Runner.
Bauza was brought on early in the process to record “scratch dialogue” for Coyote vs. Acme, which essentially means lines that could be swapped out later should the studio nab an A-list celebrity to record. But, the voice actor notes, he did enough work on the film to earn an on-screen credit at the end: “I was thrilled when I saw the screening in its entirety that I would be included the A-list stars like Will Forte and John Cena,” he says.
He worked right up until essentially the day before the writers’ strike, Bauza recalls.
“It was the summer of the strikes,” he says. “We had the writers’ strike, we had the SAG-AFTRA strike, and we were coasting. We didn't hear anything [about Coyote vs. Acme] and in the industry, no news is good news. So we had coasted by and it was pretty much getting towards fall.”
Fast forward a few months, and both strikes get resolved. Hollywood gets back to work. Bauza was in touch with Green to “help them figure out fun ways to market the film, and I was excited.”
“And literally, the [actors’] strike ends on a Wednesday. Thursday/Friday is when we get that headline,” he says.
He’s not kidding: SAG-AFTRA called an end to the strike on November 8, 2023. On November 9, THR runs the headline, “Warner Bros. Shelves John Cena’s ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Movie a Year After It Completed Filming.”
“We got that news very bluntly and quickly,” Bauza remembers.
And for what it’s worth, Bauza’s been around long enough to work on projects that don’t come to fruition, mainly in television.
“What I found peculiar about mainly this round of projects coming and going is that they were just announcing a lot of things in the trades,” he says, referring to other canceled Warner Bros. films Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. He concedes that he doesn’t “know what goes into being the CEO of a company and I can't even imagine the hard decisions that outside of Coyote vs. Acme any one of those CEOs has to make on a daily basis just to survive.”
But still, as Bauza points out: Green “came in on budget, on time. The picture tested extremely well.” And yet, it still looked like it would never see the light of day… until it just might.
Another Chance, and the Fan Campaign
“We were ready to say goodbye to it,” Bauza says after they got the initial news. “And then we kind of got this glimmer of hope.”
The fans – and the industry – rallied. Social media campaigns went wild after the aforementioned filmmakers who’d gotten the chance to see Coyote vs. Acme spoke out in support. According to THR, “a group of filmmakers with business at the studio” vented in a text chain about their anxieties regarding the canceled films.
It all led to a stunning about-face from Warner Bros.: on November 13, the studio confirmed that it would allow Coyote vs. Acme to be shopped to other studios rather than shelving it for a tax break, giving it another shot at life.
“What ended up happening that first initial weekend was incredible,” Bauza remembers. “If this is about anything, it's about the Looney Tunes and it's about the love that people have for these characters… the amount of fans that stepped up to the plate that first weekend – it kind of reminded me of Sonic the Hedgehog and Deadpool, how much the fandom and the fans weighing in on a decision-making process can change the course of projects like Coyote vs. Acme.”
And once again, a few months pass by. The holidays come and go. “Again, you’re like, ‘no news is good news,’ “ Bauza repeats. Until it isn’t: The Wrap reported on February 9 that Warner Bros. rejected offers from Amazon, Netflix, and Paramount, putting Coyote vs. Acme squarely in the danger zone once again.
“And then all of a sudden here we are again, the most talked-about film that no one's seen, making more headlines again about, ‘hey, there's a chance that at the end of February. If it doesn't find a home, it might once again be locked away and who knows from there,’ “ Bauza says. “So it kind of prompted me to get back on social media.”
And get back on social media he did, with #ReleaseCoyotevsAcme trending once again – but it wasn't limited to the internet. Earlier this month, Bauza went fairly viral for bringing the fight to the Annie Awards stage, one of the most prominent gatherings of the animation community.
“I hate to be political, but release Coyote vs. Acme!” He yelled – in Daffy Duck’s voice, of course. The video’s been viewed more than 3 million times on various X/Twitter accounts like DiscussingFilm and ToonHive.
Looney Tunes voice actor Eric Bauza yells “RELEASE COYOTE VS. ACME!” at the 2024 #AnnieAwards.pic.twitter.com/aqWFLZe7y1
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 18, 2024
“There was a joke that was teed up – and I did write, ‘Daffy says, hashtag release Coyote vs. Acme,’ which they kind of took out, but I put back in,” he says. “But I always tethered the line of like, ‘okay, this would get me fired, but maybe not this.’ “
He was also intentional about the choice of Daffy, referencing a certain kind of rebelliousness behind the character: “It wouldn't make sense for Mickey and Donald and Goofy to do something like that, but it would make sense for Daffy and Bugs to make fun of a situation and add some humor in there.”
“The intent was to bring some attention back to the subject that we keep following and to add some sense of humor and add some light to it,” he says. “And it just so happened to once again, come at a time where it's always like, ‘oh, we haven't heard from that in a while.’ Then boom, people are still waiting and people still care. So if this was the last ditch attempt to resurrect any kind of hope for the fate of that project, I hope it was a positive one. And if not, again, we'll make something fun. We'll make something new.”
Where Coyote vs. Acme Stands Now
The fan campaign reached something of a fever pitch last week ahead of the Warner Bros. Q4 earnings call, where fans hoped CEO David Zaslav would announce some kind of update about the status of the film. Even Mark Hamill sent his voice to the cause.
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) February 20, 2024
But, if you’re looking for any kind of insider updates, don’t ask Bauza. He, along with much of the rest of the crew, has been finding out everything through social media and the headlines, and hasn’t been in touch with WB: “Last time I heard from Warner Brothers public relations was, ‘hey, your second Emmy banner came in for your statue, so we're going to FedEx it to you.’ And I was like, ‘okay.’ “
And while Bauza has gotten a lot of attention for his outspokenness on the issue, he isn’t worried about it jeopardizing his career.
“People are like, ‘aren't you worried?’ I'm like, ‘I don't even think they know I exist.’ I'm just a blip on the radar,” he says. “These characters are the stars, not me.”
Plus, even if the business situation is depressing, Bauza points out that the reaction and passion on social media is a reminder of the power of Looney Tunes characters, of whom he’s been a lifelong fan of.
“I hope at the end of the day, if this is a casualty of the financial side of business, that they remember to plant those seeds of other stories that can be told with these characters,” he says. “Because what I'm afraid is going to happen is people will see how kind of easy it is to let go of a story that was really, really good, and then people might feel like, ah, ‘whatever. I missed it, I missed it.’ And that's tough. That's tough for me to even think that that might be a regular thing versus, ‘what else are you going to make? Let's make Looney Tune stuff.’ “
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
