John Cena To Star In New Live-Action Looney Tunes Movie

John Cena has taken on a number of opponents in his life, but we'll soon learn how he fares against animated enemies as he is set to appear in a new Looney Tunes film.

The actor and wrestler will star in the Warner Bros. movie alongside one of Looney Tunes' most determined characters: Wile E. Coyote.

Fans of the series will remember that Coyote never gave up in his bid to catch the Road Runner, despite injuring himself numerous times in the process through mishaps and malfunctioning ACME products.

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner (Alamy)

Titled Coyote v. Acme, the new film will detail what happens when Coyote reaches the end of his tether with ACME and decides to take action. The animated character decides to get some support in the form of a down-on-his-luck lawyer as he sues the ACME Corporation for defective products, though things go awry when the lawyer discovers his former boss is representing the company.

Cena is set to play the intimidating former boss who will challenge Coyote, but a growing friendship between the lawyer and the animated character fuels their determination to win the case.

Coyote v. Acme is thought to be part courtroom drama, part family comedy and is set to begin production in New Mexico next month before hitting theatres in July 2023, according to Deadline.

Dave Green, who previously worked on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, will direct the project with Chris DeFaria and James Gunn producing. The latest draft of the script comes from screenwriter Samy Burch, though is based on the New Yorker article 'Coyote v. Acme' by Ian Frazier, which was published in 1990.

John Cena (Alamy)

Wile E. Coyote first debuted in 1949, with creator Chuck Jones' website describing the cartoon as a 'very hungry character who’s been trying to catch and eat the Road Runner for almost 50 years.'

It adds: 'The biggest lesson he could learn would be to find a company other than Acme for his Road Runner catching supplies.'

News of Cena's role in the film comes after he reprised his Suicide Squad character for the HBO Max series Peacemaker, which has been created by Gunn and concludes its first series this week. The explicit series is a far cry from the family-friendly Looney Tunes, but its success seems evident as HBO Max announced this week that it had been renewed for a second season.

We'll have to wait and see whether Coyote proves successful when he takes on Cena in his lawsuit, but I've no doubt it will be an explosive case in one way or another.

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