WIRE Buzz: Wile E. Coyote movie nabs TMNT director; Lodge 49 staying vacant; more

Dodge that anvil and don’t eat those explosive birdseed, because you’ve gotta survive long enough to catch the upcoming Wile E. Coyote movie, now that it’s finally nabbed a director. 

Variety reports that Warner Bros. has recruited Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows director Dave Green to helm Coyote vs. Acme, the live action-animation hybrid movie set to continue the ill-fated adventures of the hungry cartoon villain who’s too clever by half — especially when it comes to stopping the Road Runner in his speedy tracks.

In Looney Tunes lore, Acme is the fictional company whose staples, contraptions, and gizmos always seem to fail Wile E. Coyote just when he needs them most — or, alternately, to work perfectly at precisely the wrong moment, when it’s the Coyote (and not the Road Runner) who invariably ends up on the receiving end of his own nefarious schemes.

Green achieved a box office acme of a different kind with the TMNT movie, which went on to take in nearly $250 million at the global box office back in 2016.

Though Deadline previously reported that Jon and Josh Silberman (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) would be writing the script (as IMDb notes, as well), Variety reports that the movie is still without a writer, and that the Silbermans are producing alongside LEGO Batman director Chris McKay.

There’s no word yet on a release date for Coyote vs. Acme, so for now we’ll crouch behind a boulder and keep a quiet lookout... while we wait for the next bit of news to come speeding down the road.

Despite a fervent fan push to help the makers of Lodge 49 find the canceled AMC series a Season 3 home, it appears starry-eyed surfer Sean “Dud” Dudley (Wyatt Russell) will be adrift at sea for the foreseeable future.

Nearly two months after AMC closed the curtain on the critically-acclaimed show — a blend of navel-gazing, reality-based comedy and magical realism set against a California backdrop of never-grow-up surf culture — show creator Jim Gavin took to Twitter to thank fans for their ongoing support… and to let them know there’ve been no TV suitors to rescue the series from cancelation purgatory.

“It breaks my heart to announce that Lodge 49 won't be going forward,” wrote Gavin, with a nod to anti-hero Dud’s linguistic chops. “We tried very hard to find a new home, but there were no takers. Ratings, metrics, algorithms ... que sera, brah.”

At least we still have two seasons — and some truly cool cameos — to turn to whenever we’re craving those chill, mystical vibes. Hulu already serves as the streaming home for Season 1 of Lodge 49, so here’s hoping it’s only a matter of time before Season 2 washes ashore there as well.

With The Rise of Skywalker only days away from closing out the nine-movie saga George Lucas first launched in 1977, director J.J. Abrams is answering the hottest Star Wars question among lovers of little green friends. 

Even though Baby Yoda’s popularity may have eclipsed even his 900 year-old namesake as The Mandalorian’s wordless, breakout “Child” star, the Force-sensitive youngling won’t be appearing in Luke Skywalker’s Star Wars movie swan song, Abrams bluntly told Variety at Monday's premiere. 

Not that Baby Yoda isn’t the “cutest thing in the history of time,” as the director himself admitted, but for now, fans who want to know how The Child will expand on the lore of Yoda’s mysterious, still-unnamed species — a decades-old mystery dating all the way back to The Empire Strikes Back — will simply have to keep track of where The Mandalorian takes the little green one’s story on the small screen at Disney+.

Before then, at least we’re sure to get plenty of quality time with Poe, Rey, Kylo, and Finn — not to mention Chewie, R2-D2, C-3PO and Leia as Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker soars into theaters this Friday, Dec. 20.