Wile E. Coyote Movie in the Works at Warner Bros.

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Warner Bros. is developing “Coyote Vs. Acme” as a Wile E. Coyote animated movie with “Lego Batman” director Chris McKay on board to produce.

The sibling team of Jon and Josh Silberman, whose writing and producing credits include “Living Biblically,” “Bordertown,” “Deadbeat,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” have been hired by the studio to write the “Coyote Vs. Acme” script.

Wile E. Coyote is part of Warner’s Looney Tunes characters, which include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, and Marvin the Martian. The dialogue-free Coyote character first appeared in 1949 in “Fast and Furry-ous,” the first of 49 cartoons in which he was never able to catch the Road Runner, despite using complex devices from the fictitious Acme Corporation. The Acme contraptions invariably fail, leaving the Coyote squashed flat or burnt to a crisp.

McKay made his feature film directorial debut with 2017’s “Lego Batman,” which grossed $311 million worldwide. He was animation co-director on 2014’s “The Lego Movie.”

Warner Bros. mixed Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters in 1996’s live-action/animated sports comedy “Space Jam,” which grossed $230 million worldwide. It also produced 2003’s “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” starring Brendan Fraser, in 2003.

The Silbermans are repped by ICM Partners. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.