Washington : John Cena is set to star in ‘Coyote vs Acme’, a live-action/CG animation hybrid feature from Warner Bros. centred on the classic Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Green, who previously helmed ‘Earth to Echo’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’, is directing.
Chris DeFaria and James Gunn are producing the film. Screenwriter Samy Burch penned the latest draft of the script, based on the New Yorker humour article ‘Coyote v. Acme’ by Ian Frazier, published in 1990.
Wile E. Coyote is the silent and cunningly inventive mammal who is endlessly foiled in his attempts to capture and kill his nemesis and potential meal, the Road Runner. He is aided in his attempts by devices mail-ordered from Acme Corporation, which never quite work the way they are supposed to.
The feature will tell the story of a down-on-his-luck (human) attorney who takes on Wile E. as a client in his suit against Acme over its defective products, only to discover that his boss at his former law firm is representing Acme.
Cena will play the former boss in the feature, which seems like part courtroom drama, part family comedy. Production on the project is due to begin in late March in New Mexico.
A champion WWE wrestler, Cena has made huge strides into acting, tackling profane comedies (‘Blockers’, ‘Vacation Friends’) and family comedies (‘Playing With Fire’) in equal measure, as well as adventure and action movies.
Last year he starred in both ‘F9: The Fast Saga’ and ‘The Suicide Squad’, the latter a Warners DC movie that spun off his character, Peacemaker, into his own series for HBO Max.