After a long and unusual road to release, Coyote vs. Acme is finally getting its chance to be seen by audiences. The film faced an uncertain future after Warner Bros. initially shelved the completed project, leaving the cast, crew, and fans wondering whether it would ever officially see the light of day. But then Ketchup Entertainment saved the project. The live-action/animation hybrid, which hits theaters on August 28, stars Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena alongside Wile E. Coyote and a collection of familiar faces from the Looney Tunes universe.
At San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2026, The Direct spoke exclusively with Coyote vs. Acme director Dave Green and star Lana Condor about finally getting the film in front of fans, preserving the style of the classic Chuck Jones cartoons, acting alongside characters who weren't actually there, and the surprising addition of Bugs Bunny.
Lana Condor Didn't Know She Had a Scene With Bugs Bunny
"I Was Very Starstruck"
Despite sharing the screen with plenty of Looney Tunes characters, one of Lana Condor's biggest surprises didn't happen until after filming had already wrapped.
- The Direct: "Did you have a favorite Looney Tune that you acted across?"
Lana Condor: I was very starstruck by Bugs Bunny. I also don't know what happened, maybe I'm a dummy, but I didn't realize that he—
Green quickly provided an explanation:
Dave Green: We changed it in post. The original cut of the movie did not have Bugs Bunny.
Condor had originally filmed the scene, believing she was interacting with a different character, before Bugs was inserted later.
Green: You thought you were sharing a scene with animated Peter Lorre, but it actually turned into Bugs Bunny in post.
Condor remembered discovering the change while watching the movie:
Condor: Imagine the shock of my life. I was like, 'Wait a second.'
Bugs may have been exciting for Condor, but Green revealed that the iconic rabbit was also the most difficult Looney Tunes character for the filmmakers to handle.
- The Direct: "What was it like having to wrangle all the Looney Tunes to get them to act with the cast?"
Dave Green: Super fun, and I would honestly say that Bugs Bunny is the most challenging character to work with because he can do anything. He's like a master of the impossible, which makes a scene with him really challenging because he is kind of a punk.
The production also gave its actors physical performers to interact with whenever possible. Condor specifically praised Joe Cobden, who helped bring Foghorn Leghorn to life during production:
Condor: We had some amazing, amazing performers come in all in green... Joe [Cobden] did it for days, and it was like one of the most beautiful performances I've ever seen. I'm sitting behind the little table, and I'm just like, 'Damn, I am in a theater right now. I'm watching a play. I'm watching the best one-man play ever.'"
Coyote vs. Acme's Team Reacts to the Film Finally Being Released
"There's No Scenario Where the World Doesn't See This"
- The Direct: "What was that moment like for you guys when [the film] was brought back to life and you were like, 'Everybody can see it now?'"
Dave Green: Really overjoyed and had no idea what was real and what wasn't.
Lana Condor: I always had faith. After watching the funeral screening, which was so depressing, I watched that and I was like, 'There's no scenario where the world doesn't see this. It will come out... Maybe it was blind optimism or misguided optimism, but truly, I think when I found out, I was like, 'And that's been settled.' Like, okay, this is happening.
For Condor and Green, getting the film released also means finally being able to experience it alongside the fans who supported the project throughout its uncertain future. At San Diego Comic-Con, Condor was preparing for what she said would be the movie's first fan screening.
- The Direct: "And you get to experience that with an audience. What's that going to be like for you guys?"
Green: That's why we do what we do. We make things to be shared... This is why we're here. We're here to share the work and get the audience's reaction.
How Lana Condor Made Living With the Looney Tunes Feel Real
"I Kind of Was the Straight Person"
While Coyote vs. Acme exists in the heightened world audiences expect from the Looney Tunes, Condor had the opposite responsibility with her performance. Instead of trying to compete with the animated characters' larger-than-life personalities, the actress approached her character as a grounded presence amid all the chaos.
- The Direct: "The tone of this movie is quite tricky to master, being that intriguing blend of serious and satirical comedy. Can you talk about how you approached that and retained that balance?"
Lana Condor: I always felt like, in many ways, I kind of was the straight person. We're trying to build this world where we're convincing [people] that humans and cartoons have lived side by side for a while, and we can absolutely coexist... So I think, for me, I very much was trying to give a more grounded performance because I felt that the cartoons are so much fun. They're the fun.
Condor added that the genre also allowed her to embrace some of her character's more persistent qualities:
Condor: Something that I love that this genre affords is that I love playing characters that are a little bit... I don't think she's neurotic, but she's a little bit annoying in her pursuit, in her persistence. I kind of love playing characters like that, and I think it fits really well in this genre.
The actress also credited director Dave Green with helping her navigate the movie's unusual tone.
Condor: I had great direction from Dave. Any question that I had, or any tone question or whatever, he was so available and always ready to help me.
Coyote vs. Acme Director Wanted To Preserve Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes
"Those Original Shorts Are Masterpieces"
Despite using modern technology to bring Wile E. Coyote and the rest of the Looney Tunes into a live-action world, Green didn't want to reinvent what made the characters work in the first place. Instead, the director looked directly to the classic cartoons from legendary animator Chuck Jones.
- The Direct: "Can you talk a little bit about that approach in modernizing this animation, but still keeping that nostalgic feel that we all grew up with?"
Dave Green: I really wanted the feel of the cartoon characters to feel like the originals that Chuck Jones directed so long ago. We were really going for a set of character expressions and poses and an animation style that was timed, hopefully, in a similar way as those originals were, because there was just a speed and a wit and a cleverness to the way those originals were designed.
Green called the original shorts "masterpieces," explaining that the team tried its best to honor the groundwork laid by those cartoons while leveraging modern filmmaking tools:
Green: We're using a modern toolset to integrate those characters into the world with new sets of comp tools that support shadow and reflection and things like that.
However, all the visual effects in the world wouldn't work if audiences didn't believe the human characters were actually interacting with Wile E. Coyote. Green credited Condor and Will Forte with making that illusion possible:
Green: It's really up to Lana and Will to sell the magic trick that these characters are real and... they exist in the world as part of the status quo. It's not unusual that there's a cartoon character walking down the street.
Condor admitted that pretending Wile E. Coyote was actually standing beside her became surprisingly natural:
Condor: It's actually very surprising how quickly you believe that Wile E. is next to you at all times because, to me, he felt kind of like an annoying little brother. I know it sounds crazy... It might be tricky a few times, and then you're like, 'Oh, I feel him everywhere. He's just here. He is here.'"
Who Was Harder or More Fun To Work With: Wile E. Coyote or Kathryn Newton?
Lana Condor has had a busy run of projects, but The Direct couldn't let her go without asking her to choose between two very different co-stars—Wile E. Coyote or Kathryn Newton from their new Amazon Prime film, The Devil's Mouth.
Lana Condor: That's a horrible question... Wile E. was for sure harder to work with... Wile E. was a little bit more difficult... He had a cast chair. I have a picture of it... He's a bit of a diva... Every single moment I had with Kathryn was the best, and she's just a GOAT. She's amazing.
After everything Coyote vs. Acme went through on its journey to audiences, Condor and Green's enthusiasm for finally sharing the film was evident. And if Condor's experience is anything to go by, audiences may find themselves believing a scheming animated coyote is truly standing alongside the human cast just as quickly as she did.
