Directors Cut Radio Show

After decades of getting blown
up, flattened

and generally destroyed by Acme
products, Wily E.

Coyote is finally doing
something about it.

He's suing coyote versus Acme.

Takes
that wonderfully ridiculous idea

and turns it into a live action
courtroom

comedy with a surprising amount
of heart.

Will Forte and Lana Condor.
Join us now.

Welcome to the show. You, too.
How are you? Thank you.

And by the way, it's
great to talk to you

because we made this movie
in Albuquerque.

That's right.

Yes, it's an Albuquerque film.

I've been waiting
and wanting to see this.

When somebody first told you
about Wily Coyote suing Acme,

what was your reaction?

I thought it was hysterical.

Yeah. Really funny.

This was a New Yorker piece.

I believe his name is
Ian Frazier.

Wrote this back in the 90s,
I think.

And so, you know, it's it's
been kicking around for a while.

And then finally
people wrote it up.

So it's, it's it's
comes from this incredibly

funny writer
and then adapted by this amazing

Oscar
nominated writer, Sammy Burch.

And by the time we got it,
it was just

this wonderful script
that was like, oh my God.

But how did we get to be
in this movie?

It was a no brainer.
Just so fun.

And you spend
so much of the time playing

opposite Wily Coyote
and he doesn't talk.

So he turned into a pretty long
monologue, my friend.

How do you make an animated
coyote feel?

Like a real scene partner?

Well, we were really set up
for success.

Our production, our director,
Dave Green, he brought in Dave

Barclay,
who is an iconic puppet master.

And so he builds a live action
a to scale coyote.

And then he would
go in as coyote

and he would puppet coyote

through the scenes
when we were rehearsing,

so we could get a general sense
of where he was in the room,

kind of how he was feeling.

And then they would
pull the puppet away

and they would put in
tennis balls.

And that's kind of
how we filmed.

That's kind of how we filmed
our interactions with with Wylie

and to be honest,
like having that

having that resource of Dave
Barclay and having him there

and being so great at his job
and being so great

at being Wylie,
that was that was that changed.

That changed a lot for me.

Like it was very valuable for.

Yeah,
he really brought the scene to

life and made it much easier
than you would think.

Yeah.

And this movie has its own
kind of specific kind of comedy,

especially because it takes
place in the Looney Tunes world.

What was your key to finding
your position in that place?

Well, look, I'm.

For me,

it was easy
because I was a big Looney Tunes

fan growing up, and I would

watch it on Saturdays
and every day after school.

So like that
mindset in a lot of ways

that that helped shape
my comedic sensibilities.

And, and Sammy,
the the screenwriter and Dave

the director stay very true
to the the Looney Tunes tone.

You know, they

so so I think that Looney Tunes
fans are going to be very happy

with how these characters
are portrayed.

And, and, you know, it's
just like it's it's really fun.

So but, but the script is
written in such a way that like,

it is it is pretty laid out.

She does a very good job

of creating this template
for your character,

and it made it
pretty easy to act.

And and if you got,

you know, off track
just a little bit, Dave Green

or a director would just nudge
you along into the right place.

And what surprised me was
how much you actually care

about Wily Coyote
and his plight by the end.

Why do you think we root for
this guy after all these years?

I mean, God, he's he's
the classic underdog.

He he's a character

that gets up every single day
and try, try, try again.

And even when it's not the

result that he wants

and he goes home
battered and bruised,

he gets up again following day
and he tries again.

And I think that that's just

that type, that character,
someone who's that tenacious

and focused and
and so steadfast in his goal.

Like, I think that's very,
very inspiring.

And for me, I think that like,
I mean, even with the poster,

like he's literally he's
pushing up this big, big bomb

and he's

it's going to fall,
I'm assuming,

and he's probably going to keep
pushing it up, up the hill.

And I think that's a beautiful
message for people to hear.

And and I'm

and and for me,

honestly,
I'm pretty proud to be a part

of a movie
that that champions there

their main character,
Wily Coyote, as someone who

will get up and try again
even in the face of adversity,

you know?

And there's plenty here
for longtime Looney Tunes fans.

It doesn't have to or just
completely depend on nostalgia.

How important was it
that it worked

for also a new audience?

I think it was really important

that it worked
for a new audience, for sure.

I mean, I can speak like,
you know, for me, like

my parents
introduced me to Looney Tunes,

but it wasn't a major fixture
like in my own personal life

growing up as a child.

So my real true love for Looney
Tunes started doing this

movie and is now.

And I really, really think
that something that I love

the most about this movie
is if you've never even seen

a Looney Tunes
cartoon in your life,

you can watch this film
and you will fall in love with

with the world.

So I definitely think that it's

very important

to try and create a film
that's obviously for the

for the diehard fans
that have loved this and is

and has been
a huge part of their lives.

But I also think it's

very important

to create a film that anyone,
just anyone, can go to.

Yeah. I know it.

There is a little extra level
of nostalgic sweetness

if you
if you do know the Looney Tunes,

but you know the
story is just so solid.

Yeah,

yeah, I didn't, I didn't
hey, I didn't know anything

about Lord of the rings before
I watched that and I loved it.

There you go. Like Harry Potter,
you know. Absolutely.

And we got to give a little love

to the New Mexico
filmmakers out here.

So much was shot here.

It's based in New Mexico,
in Albuquerque.

This isn't the first time
you've shot a movie out here.

You did McGruber
out here as well.

What do you remember most

about making the movie
in Albuquerque

and some of the uphill battle
you guys went through to try

to make this film?

Well, you know what?

Albuquerque has a very
special place in my heart.

I made the Gruber movie
here, Beer Fest.

I was in out Here, MacGruber
TV series, and then coyote

versus Acme, and I got married
in Albuquerque.

We got married during
the shooting of MacGruber. So.

So it holds a very special place
in my heart.

And and I just have such fun
feelings.

Love everything about it.
So beautiful.

Great food, great people,
great crews.

Green chilies. Oh, can't.

Enough of them. Those hatch
hatch chilies, right.

Anyway, the the roller

coaster
ride of that happened to this.

A very emotional roller
coaster ride.

We had completed the movie.

They did the post-production
process.

It's testing really well.

And then Warner
Brothers comes in and just says,

nope, we're going to just throw
this moving the garbage can.

Nobody's going to ever see it.

And we're going to take
a tax rate right off.

And and we hadn't
seen the movie yet.

So when we saw it

for the first time a week
after that decision, it was

mind boggling.

You know,

I had gone in thinking,
oh, this is kind of suck, right?

Because that's why else would
they be doing this?

And then I see this
very special,

incredible, funny
and emotionally resonant movie.

It's it.

I was so frustrated
that I didn't get to share

this beautiful movie
with my kids, and it just was

this horrible feeling.

And then we were forced
to kind of move on from it

because there was nothing
we could do.

But as we were moving on
and trying to get other work,

a bunch of people
made a bunch of noise about it.

They they wouldn't stop
making their voices be heard.

And eventually Warner
Brothers had to take note.

And they eventually,

I think, just got sick of like,
all these people saying stuff.

So they sold it
to Ketchup entertainment.

And it's just great
because this, you know,

and now it's coming out in
movies because of these people.

And it's so great
because the on screen story

is about an underdog

taking on a big corporation,
and the off screen story

is the same thing.

It's all these underdogs
who banded together

to make their voices heard,
and because of them,

they took on this corporation
and beat them.

Will, Lana, I really want to
thank you for joining me.

Coyote versus Acme Hits Theater,
I guess 28th.

It's a blast. I definitely say
you should check it out.

Thank you for joining me
today. Thank you very much.