Published Aug 28, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT
Richard Craig is a Senior Author at Screen Rant covering film and TV. Richard has also written extensively about horror and film soundtracks, contributing a chapter to the first major academic collection on the folk horror genre, The Routledge Companion to Folk Horror. Richard is also a performing musician and holds an MA in Music and Sound Art.
The next Looney Tunes movie after Coyote vs. Acme looks set to take the franchise in a very different direction. While Coyote vs. Acme centered on one of animation's most famous rivalries and blended live-action with classic cartoon characters, Warner Bros.' next planned feature appears focused on a single Looney Tunes star who has spent years absent from the big screen. If it reaches theaters, it will also finally bring an end to one of the longest-running development stories in modern animation.
The Looney Tunes brand has enjoyed a theatrical revival recently. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie gave Porky Pig and Daffy Duck their first fully animated theatrical adventure, while Coyote vs. Acme overcame its well-publicized shelving to secure a release. Those projects demonstrated that Warner Bros. remains interested in theatrical films built around its iconic animated characters.
The studio's next project is particularly notable because it has spent more than a decade moving through different stages of development. At various points, it was planned as a live-action/animation hybrid, then an animated feature, before seemingly stalling altogether.
However, the most recent updates suggest the film is finally moving forward. Based on everything currently known, the next Looney Tunes movie in development is an animated Speedy Gonzales feature.
What The Next Looney Tunes Movie Is
The next major Looney Tunes movie currently known to be in development is an animated Speedy Gonzales film. Speedy Gonzales first appeared in 1953, as the diminutive mouse who can run at super speeds and boasts an even faster wit. In the original cartoons, his main rivals were Sylvester the Cat and Daffy Duck, and he was sometimes joined by his sluggish cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez.
The Speedy Gonzales movie received its biggest update in January 2026 when Warner Bros. Pictures Animation officially greenlit the movie. That followed filmmaker Jorge R. Gutierrez teasing in late 2025 that a Speedy Gonzales feature was actively being developed. Although details about the movie adaptation’s story are unknown, it will presumably have some connection to the wider Looney Tunes canon.
A Speedy Gonzales Movie Has Been In Development Since 2010
Few animated movies have spent as long in development as Speedy Gonzales. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema first announced a feature adaptation in 2010. At the time, it was planned as a live-action/animated hybrid with George Lopez attached to voice the character. The project evolved over the following years.
By 2015, reports indicated Warner Bros. was developing a fully animated version instead. In 2016, Eugenio Derbez was announced as Speedy's voice actor. After that, updates became infrequent. The film appeared stuck in development for years, leading many fans to assume it had quietly been abandoned.
Momentum returned in late 2025 when Jorge R. Gutierrez revealed the project was still alive. Warner Bros.' reported greenlight in January 2026 was the clearest sign yet that the movie could finally happen. If it reaches theaters, it will end a development process that has lasted roughly 16 years.
Can A Speedy Gonzales Movie Work?
The biggest challenge facing the movie is the conversation surrounding the character himself. Speedy Gonzales has faced criticism over the years from people who viewed the character as relying on Mexican stereotypes. Those concerns have often been cited as a reason the project struggled to gain momentum.
However, the character's reputation is far more complex than that criticism suggests. Speedy has remained enormously popular in Mexico and throughout Latin America for decades. Many view him as a positive character: a clever underdog who consistently outsmarts larger and more powerful opponents. That popularity is one reason Eugenio Derbez publicly defended the character in 2024, arguing that Mexican audiences still love Speedy Gonzales.
The key to the movie's success will likely be modernization, not reinvention. If Warner Bros. can preserve the character's appeal while updating him for contemporary audiences, the film has a genuine opportunity to succeed. After 16 years of development, Warner Bros. clearly believes Speedy Gonzales still has a place in the future of Looney Tunes.
Video Game(s) Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time, Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters, Taz-Mania, Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider
First Film Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)
Cast Mel Blanc, June Foray, Billy West, Eric Bauza, Bob Bergen, Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Greg Burson, Noel Blanc
Created by Leon Schlesinger, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising









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