Will Forte Opens Up About the ‘Emotional Rollercoaster’ Getting His New“ Looney Tunes” Film into Movie Theaters (Exclusive)

Will Forte costars with Lana Condor, John Cena and a number of fan-favorite ‘Looney Tunes’ characters in ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ in theaters Aug. 28

NEED TO KNOW

• Will Forte opens up to PEOPLE about the winding road that resulted in a four-year gap between when he filmed his new movie Coyote vs. Acme and its release in theaters on Aug. 28
• Forte costars with Lana Condor, John Cena and a host of Looney Tunes characters in the new comedy
• In 2023, Warner Bros. decided to shelve Coyote vs. Acme; it was sold to another distributor in 2025 following significant backlash

Will Forte‘s new Looney Tunes movie is finally making its way into movie theaters, following uncertainties it would ever be seen by the public after the comedy wrapped filming four years ago.

Forte, 56, stars in Coyote vs. Acme, a new live-action/animation adventure in the vein of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that sees the Saturday Night Live alum play a personal injury attorney in New Mexico named Kevin, who specializes in cases caused by cartoon violence.

The movie has been in development since 2018, but in 2023, it was shelved, seemingly for good, by Warner Bros., reportedly for a tax write-off. After receiving significant backlash, Warner Bros. sold the movie to Ketchup Entertainment in March 2025.

“It has been an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least,” says Forte, who had recently married his wife Olivia Modling and welcomed their oldest daughter Zoe, now 5, when he filmed Coyote vs. Acme. In the years between filming and the movie’s release, he and Modling, 35, have welcomed another daughter, Cecilia, now 3.

“A lot of people worked incredibly hard on this movie. For the amount of complex stuff we had to do, it was such a well-oiled machine,” Forte tells PEOPLE. “So you get to the end of this, and you’re really close with all the people you work with, and just have this feeling of pride and excitement about how the movie’s going to turn out.”

But just one day after receiving an invitation to see an early cut of the film, he learned the studio no longer intended to release Coyote vs. Acme.

“That was confusing, especially since we had been hearing such positive progress reports,” he recalls. “They still said that we would be able to watch the movie the next Tuesday, and so my head kinda went to, ‘Oh, maybe it’s just not that good,’” he recalls. “So I got to go see it and was just blown away. Loved it.”

Confusion followed, “which then turned to frustration and anger,” he says. “It was really grief for this thing that you had spent so much time on.”

Though Forte describes the movie’s initial shelving as “devastating,” he “tried to move on with my life.” Forte has since appeared in movies like projects like Strays, Kinda Pregnant and most recently, Tina Fey‘s The Four Seasons, while he waited for audiences to finally see Coyote vs. Acme.

“I’ve certainly had the experience where I put out stuff that nobody saw. You can live with that. That was MacGruber,” he says with a laugh. “Nobody saw it in the theaters, and we were so proud of that movie.” Coyote vs. Acme director Dave Green says that behind the scenes Forte “kept the torch burning bright” for their film.

At home, Forte leaned into his joyful household —“I’ve got young kids, so I was always busy” —and eventually learned the movie had been “rescued” by a new distributor. “The elation was 100 percent,” he says.

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Coyote vs. Acme now heads to theaters with a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and also stars John Cena, Lana Condor, Luis Guzmán, Martha Kelly and P.J. Byrne. Beloved Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Road Runner and Daffy Duck — among others — appear in the movie, too.

“It’s a pleasure to report that the film is a hilarious delight, one of the best live-action/animation films ever, and will be treasured by Looney Tunes fans (and who isn’t one?) who will be thrilled seeing their favorite cartoon characters return to the big screen,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter in its review, while the Los Angeles Times hailed the film as “the right comedy for right now.”

“I’m so proud of this movie,” Forte says. “Just knowing that it is out there for people to see, I’m happy.”

Coyote vs. Acme hits theaters Aug. 28

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