Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie)

Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) is a 2021 live-action/animated action-adventure/science-fiction buddy comedy film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Glitch Productions, & TV30 & distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures based on the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action & the Murder Drones pilot. Directed by Pete Browngardt, Joe Dante, & Liam Vickers, produced by Kevin Lerdwichagul & Rebecca Palatnik, & written by Kevin Costello & Vickers based on a screenplay from the former & a story from the latter, the film stars the voices of Elsie Lovelock, Michael Kovach, Eric Bauza, Jeff Bergman, Nola Klop, Bob Bergen, with Billy West & Eric Goldberg, while Steve Martin returns to headline the live-action cast.
Development on a Back in Action remake began in early 2019, when Browngardt's Looney Tunes Cartoons was in production. A year before release, the movie was announced under the name "Set in Stone", which was slated to be part of HBO Max's simultaneous theater release plan. Filming & voice recording simultaneously took place on June of 2020. The film was released in regular, 3D, 4D, 4DX, RealD 3D, Premium Large Format, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, IMAX, IMAX with Laser, & IMAX 3D formats, with IMAX 3D cameras used during production. The film premiered at Las Vegas on November 1, 2021 & released domestically in the United States on the 12th of that same month, with an international release 2 days earlier. The film was a box-office success, making a huge profit by earning $897.6 million on an $85 million budget, becoming the 3rd highest-grossing film of 2021. It also received generally positive reviews, with some minor criticisms on the screenplay.
==Plot==
Former JCJenson Worker Drone Uzi Doorman starts plotting the demise of humanity after years of endless torture they have inflicted on her kind. Her plans are interrupted, however, by a strange portal that sends her & fellow Disassembly Drones N & V to the Warner Bros. studio lot, where they encounter Daffy Duck, who has just been fired from the company, causing a ruckus. On the flipside, Daffy agrees to help the drones get back home as they simultaneously go on a mission to find the Blue Monkey & keep it away from ACME. Without Daffy, plans for future WB cartoons go awry, so Bugs Bunny teams up with Porky Pig & Tina Russo to get him back. 
Meanwhile, the crew ends up in Las Vegas to receive a clue to the Blue Monkey as they're pursued by Yosemite Sam & his goons, who are tied to the ACME corporation. They eventually manage to flee them after hitching a ride with Bugs, Porky & Tina. Stopping by the desert for the night, Uzi snoops in a ill-conceived conversation between Bugs & Daffy. The next morning, Wile E. Coyote is tasked to stop the team, but fails. The heroes stumble upon Area 52, where the plot to destroy the Blue Monkey to save humanity conflicts with Uzi's plans against humans, but luckily, Daffy is able to convince her that not all humans are horrible people, leading her to drop her grudge. By that time however, Marvin the Martian breaks himself & a few more aliens out of imprisonment, leading them to get away before they're stuck on lockdown.
They get to Paris, where they locate the Blue Monkey in Africa & deter Elmer Fudd from getting the card. Later, they manage to save Tina from getting kidnapped by Cecil Turtle, who has revealed to have been working for ACME, & Beaky Buzzard. Once at Africa, they have accidentally led ACME to the location & are teleported to their headquarters where the chairman coerces the heroes to hand over the diamond. Noticing Marvin making off with it, Daffy snatches it from him, & alongside Uzi, N, V, Porky, Tina, & Bugs try to zip away from him to prevent him from getting his hands on the Blue Monkey before they destroy it. However, Marvin manages to catch up, leading to a chase in space, & eventually a final battle that sees most the heroes destroy the satellite & the diamond before returning to Earth. Uzi, N, & V make it back to Copper-9 with Bugs & Daffy's help, while the latter returns to work at Warner Bros.
==Cast==
===Character voices===
*Eric Bauza as Daffy Duck, the disgruntled & cynical screwball of the Looney Tunes, replacing Joe Alaskey from the original film.
*Elsie Lovelock as Uzi Doorman, an "angsty" teenage Worker Drone who seeks to terminate mankind.
*Jeff Bergman as Bugs Bunny, who goes on a quest to get Daffy back.
**Bergman also voices Sylvester, replacing Joe Alaskey with both roles.
*Michael Kovach as Serial Designation N, Uzi's Disassembly Drone companion.
**Kovach also voices a miscellaneous announcer voice.
*Nola Klop as Serial Designation V, N's psychotic & bloodthirsty fellow Disassembly Drone.
*Annie Mumolo as Tina Russo, Daffy's love interest.
**Mumolo also portrays a live-action waitress at the Wooden Nickel.
*Jim Rash as Cecil Turtle, an enemy of Bugs who works for ACME, specifically as the chairman's right-hand man.
*Tom Kenny as Dr. Moron, Gossamer's scientst.
*Candi Milo as Granny, Porky & Daffy's elderly neighbor, replacing June Foray.
*Kath Soucie as Lola Bunny, a perfume saleslady who also acts as Bugs' love interest.
*Brenda Song as a test drone being experimented on by JCJenson in a flashback.
*Cathy Cavadini as Blossom, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.
*Tara Strong as Bubbles, a member of the Powerpuff Girls.
*E.G. Daily as Buttercup, a member of the Powerpuff Girls.
*David J. Dixon as Khan Doorman, whose voice lines were recycled from the Murder Drones pilot.
Aside from these new additions, almost all of the voice actors from Back in Action reprise their roles, some of which through archival recordings. Additionally, Eric Bauza portrays Marvin the Martian in promotional material; same goes for Yosemite Sam & Foghorn Leghorn, both of whom voiced by Jeff Bergman in advertisements.
===Live-action actors===
A few of the human cast from the original movie return, along with these new actors:
*Brandon Rogers as George, an elderly man.
**Rogers also portrays a JCJenson scientist who bears resemblance to his 1 of his characters, Elmer.
*Rodger Bumpass as ACME VP (Stating the Obvious), replacing Marc Lawrence.
*Clancy Brown as ACME VP (Nitpicking), replacing Bill McKinney.
*Michael Cera as ACME VP (Unfairly Promoted), replacing George Murdock.
*Josh Hutcherson as a WB security guard.
*Paulette Jones as Donna Phitts, George's old flame.
**Jones also portrays a fake Abraham Lincoln, reprising her role from Blame the Hero.
*Rob Delaney as a JCJenson head scientist.
*Ben Stiller as a security guard at the Louvre.
*Drew Carey as himself.
*Christian Bale as Batman.
Various voice actors in the Looney Tunes mythos make live-action cameos during the boardroom scene, including Carlos Alazraqui, Dee Bradley Baker, Noel Blanc, Tia Carrere, Jim Cummings, Michael Dorn, Jennifer Esposito, John Paul Karliak, Maurice LaMarche, Richard McGonagle, Scott McNeil, John O'Hurley, Rob Paulsen, & Samuel Vincent. Aside from that, some of the voice actors above make cameos in the movie using their pictures.
==Production==
===Development===
Minor plans for a Back in Action rerelease were being considered in early 2019, but were mostly shot down by Warner Bros. executives. Pete Browngardt, who was then working on the Looney Tunes Cartoons series on Max (then called HBO Max), had plans for a remake of the movie, with him & Joe Dante as directors. By the film's 17th anniversary on November 14, 2020, it was announced that Browngardt & Dante will be directing a cosmic horror-romance movie entitled "Set in Stone" (to hide it's true identity), also announcing Elsie Lovelock & Michael Kovach as the leads. It stated that it would have a planned theatrical release about a year later.
GLITCH Productions was later announced to be involved in the film, supplying the animation & visual effects alongside Industrial Light & Magic. Liam Vickers was also revealed to be another director in the same article. This time, fellow director Joe Dante was promised ample amount of creative control over the project, with some of his vision being reimplemented. Eric Goldberg returned to direct the 2D hand-drawn animation alongside Patrick Delage & Looney Tunes veteran Spike Brandt.
===Filming===
Filming for the movie commenced in late June 2020 & wrapped up around August of the same year, under CoViD-19 safety protocols. Locations where filming took place include in-house filming at the WB lot, headquarters, & soundstages, Las Vegas, Paris, Africa, & the Mojave desert in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, & California. To make the production smoother, voice recording sessions also took place around this time.
===Post-production===
Animation was announced to be handled by GLITCH & ILM, who were then later reported to be joined by Tonic DNA, Titmouse, Snipple Animation, & Yearim Productions, the 4 of which having worked on Looney Tunes Cartoons. Other animation studios involved in the hand-drawn animation were Rough Draft Studios, Saerom Animation, & Mercury Filmworks, the latter studio also involved the original Back in Action.
After the premiere of Space Jam: A New Legacy, where the teaser trailer was screened, a few members of the cast from the original movie were confirmed to return, with Eric Bauza & Jeff Bergman revealed to be starring alongside Lovelock & Kovach. Production for the film ended back in June 11, 2021, a few days after the second trailer for A New Legacy.
===Future===
Post-release, Joe Dante revealed there are no plans for a sequel, & has shot down pitches from the executives for one. He explained that there was never meant to be a sequel to the movie & felt that both this movie & the original Back in Action ended in such a way that guarantees no follow-ups.
==Music==
The soundtrack, entitled The Merrie Melodies of Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie), was relwased on November 14, coinciding with the 18th anniversary of Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It includes music from composers AJ DiSpirito (who worked on the Murder Drones pilot music at the time), Joshua Moshier, & Carl Johnson (both of whom composed scores for Looney Tunes Cartoons), & songs from the main voice cast, along with covers of existing songs.
==Marketing==
The film, under its' "Set in Stone" faux-identity, was announced to be under the big releases of Warner Bros. slated to get a simultaneous theatrical & HBO Max release. The teaser poster & teaser were both released on June 26, 2021 alongside the Murder Drones series teaser. The movie's teaser trailer released on July 12, 2021, during the world premiere of Space Jam: A New Legacy, promoted by directors Pete Browngardt, Joe Dante, & Liam Vickers, & voice actors Elsie Lovelock, Michael Kovach, Nola Klop, Bob Bergen, Jeff Bergman, & Eric Bauza, the latter 3 also having worked on A New Legacy, after it was screened. Accompanying this was a video that featured Lovelock & Kovach interviewing people involved in Space Jam 2 to promote the film (still under its' false identity until the end of the video).
A few days later, the teaser poster came out online, with the teaser trailer releasing online shortly after Space Jam 2's premiere. It was also stated that with the new identity revealed, the film will not get a simultaneous release on theaters & HBO Max all along, & it is expected that the movie will be running in theaters until the 92nd anniversary of the Looney Tunes franchise the following year. The official trailer was released on July 25, 3 days before Bugs Bunny's 81st birthday. The second trailer released on August 29, 2021, a few days before Foghorn Leghorn's 75th anniversary debut. It features a lot more focus on Bugs' minor subplot in the movie that sees him on a quest to find Daffy. The final trailer was released on October 10, 2021, which was more in the style of the official trailer.
Other marketing strategies for the movie included partnerships with brands such as Wal-Mart (who return for a product placement cameo as they did in the original movie) & a lot more others. The film's official Twitter account had moments where it was briefly "taken over" by Daffy to promote the film's release. Multiple pre-release featurettes were released featuring the film crew, more prominently the voice actors, who talk about the characters they voice, the movie, play games with each other, alongside other things.
The voice actors proved to be a very big driving force of the movie's marketing. An episode of Variety Studio's Actors on Actors featured Eric Bauza & Elsie Lovelock, an episode of Hot Ones featured the latter to help promote the film, & an episode of The Shop was released akin to Bugs Bunny's "interview" that promoted Space Jam: A New Legacy, but with Jeff Bergman, Bugs' voice actor for the movie, being directly interviewed instead. The voice actors were further promoted as they were invited to talk shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
"Flyin' Like a Duck", an official song by Elsie Lovelock, was announced in October 10, 2021 alongside the release of the film's final trailer, to be released as part of the film's soundtrack. 2 lyric videos were released for the movie, & for the aforementioned song (which doubles as its official video) & another for "Shake Your Coconuts", the original film's credits song, with clips from the movie & its crew goofing off (mostly involving dancing). Meanwhile, action figures & plushies for the movie were made by Hasbro, Funko, alongside other corporations, in a deal with Warner Bros. McDonald's also released tie-in Happy Meals featuring Looney Tunes characters who will appear in the movie, except for Lola Bunny & Tina Russo in order to keep their appearances a secret.
==Release==
Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) had its' "World Domination" premiere at the Regal Cinemas branch in Boulder Station, Las Vegas during November 1, 2021. It was followed by numerous international releases in November 10 & was released in the United States in November 12. It eventually released on digital, 4K UHD, Blu-Ray, & DVD on April 19 that same year, coinciding with the 92nd anniversary of the Looney Tunes franchise. The movie also became available on streaming services such as HBO Max by that day, & started airing on TV by late 2023.
==Bonus features==
These bonus features were included in the 4-format release of the movie.
#Lights, Camera, Back in Action! - A behind-the-scenes featurette that follows Daffy & N interviewing people involved the movie.
#Witness the Flood - A deleted scene that features N & Uzi (in a slightly smaller role) as they witness the fall of the Warner Bros. water tower, which was featured in some trailers for the film. The scene was changed in the final movie to give the 2 drones more prominence (alongside V, who was not in the scene since the final script wasn't used here).
#The Voice Scope - A collection of short videos featuring the 4 main voice actors talking about the movie.
#Wascawwy Swapping - Eric Bauza & Jeff Bergman redub Bugs & Daffy's lines in the movie, except Eric voices Bugs & Jeff voices Daffy instead.
#Huntin' Ducks & Wabbits / British Granny / War on Mars - A series of exclusive shorts released for the movie.
==Reception==
===Box office===
Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) grossed $897.6 million dollars, with $294.5 million in the domestic box office & $603.1 million internationally. Co-director Joe Dante projected that the film would do worse (specifically $37-45 million), however, thanks to sporadic marketing, the box office numbers grew, exceeding his & the crew's expectations. It was estimated to be a moderate success, projected to gross about $350 million during its entire theatrical run.
The movie was released in cinemas alongside Tick, Tick... Boom! (which had a limited release) & Apex. It was projected to make $8-9 million during the opening weekend to lower expectations despite the abundant marketing. However, the movie made $26 million on its' 1st day, making $7.9 million in Thursday night previews. All in all, the movie made $44 million during it's opening weekend domestically, & $98 million globally.
It made $102 million on its' second weekend. Throughout its' run, the film ranked 1st at the box office but slowly decreased with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The movie ranked 2nd starting by its' 6th weekend, 3rd on its' 10th, & dropped out on the box office on its' 23rd weekend, ranking 5th. The film's final day in theaters was in April 19, 2022, the day of the digital, 4K UHD, DVD, Blu-Ray release. This marked 1 of Warner Bros.' biggest release windows of all time, as per Joe Dante's request.
===Critical reception===
The film received a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "Robot characters aside (who were still endearing nevertheless), Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) understands the value of these timeless characters & really puts them (& by extension Joe Dante) back in action." On Metacritic, the film received 76 out of 100, showing "generally favorable" reviews. The movie gained an "A+" grade in CinemaScore, a 4/5 rating in Common Sense Media, received an overall positive score of 81% in PostTrak, etc.
===Accolades===
Award 	Category 	Nominees 	Result
47th People's Choice Awards	The Movie of 2021 	Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) 	Won
47th People's Choice Awards	The Comedy Movie of 2021 	Murder Drones: Back in Action (A Looney Tunes Movie) 	Won
47th People's Choice Awards	The Female Movie Star of 2021 	Elsie Lovelock 	Won
47th People's Choice Awards	The Comedy Movie Star of 2021 	Eric Bauza 	Won
94th Academy Awards 	Best Original Score 	AJ Dispirito, Carl Johnson, & Joshua Moshier 	Nominated
94th Academy Awards 	Best Visual Effects 	Grady Cofer 	Nominated
49th Annie Awards 	Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production	Spike Brandt & Eric Goldberg 	Won
49th Annie Awards 	Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production 	Dave Alvarez, Kali Fontecchio, Bob McKnight, & Jim Soper	Nominated
49th Annie Awards 	Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production 	AJ Dispirito, Carl Johnson, & Joshua Moshier 	Nominated
49th Annie Awards 	Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production 	Andrew Dickman & Liam Vickers 	Won
49th Annie Awards 	Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production 	Elsie Lovelock as Uzi 	Won
==Trivia==
*This is the only Looney Tunes movie to gain a PG-13 rating, owing to the dark themes of Murder Drones & the increased anarchy & violence akin to the original shorts.
*Uzi was planned to be the only drone involved in the film's plot, until she was joined by N, & then both of them were joined by V in the final version.
*There were plans to have celebrities voice the drone characters before settling with their original voice actors to lessen the budget consumption. Uzi in particular was planned to be voiced by Millie Bobby Brown or Zendaya, while Will Ferrell was going to make a vocal cameo as Khan.
*The original draft of the movie had a few different points before the final version was released in cinemas:
**Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, Joan Cusack, Bill Goldberg, & Heather Locklear were set to return as their respective characters before they were adapted out to give more focus to the Tunes & tell the same story with a few twists to the original. Cusack & Goldberg's characters were replaced by Dr. Moron & Cecil Turtle, respectively. The former 2 were only in 1 promotional poster for the movie, & Fraser's archived recordings as Taz & the Tasmanian She-Devil were re-used.
**V, Porky, & Tina were originally going to have minor/supporting roles before promoting them to the main cast. In Porky's case, he was going to have as much screentime as he did in the original.
**The film was going to end with Uzi & N falling through a portal that led them back home, with an ending more akin to the original movie. In the final movie, though, the "That's all, Folks!", scene was moved later in the movie, ultimately becoming a post-credit scene.
**The aforementioned "That's all, Folks!" scene was supposed to play out differently, originally it was going to have Porky say "Go home, folks" again, before it was changed to Daffy finishing the line for him when he stutters.
**Uzi's voice actress, Elsie Lovelock, was going to make a physical cameo when the heroes were trying to get away from Marvin, specifically when their ship almost hits her at the beach. An alternate plan had her appearing when their ship making a hole at a condominium instead of a picture frame featuring her.
*Liam Vickers confirmed that this takes place in an alternate timeline to Murder Drones.
==Gallery==
Md back in action theatrical poster.png|Theatrical release poster.
MD Back in Action teaser poster.png|Teaser poster.
Set in Stone poster.png|Poster for the "Set in Stone" faux-identity.
Elsie Lovelock as Uzi.png|Uzi's character poster.
Eric Bauza as Daffy.png|Daffy's character poster.
Michael Kovach as N.png|N's character poster.
Jeff Bergman as Bugs Bunny.png|Bugs' character poster.
MD Back in Action IMAX.png|IMAX poster.
MD Back in Action IMAX 3D.png|Ditto for IMAX 3D.
Md back in action IMAX wlaster poster.png|Ditto for IMAX with Laser.
Md back in action 4DX.png|4DX poster.
Md back in action screenx banner.png|ScreenX banner.
Md back in action Large Format poster.png|Premium Large Format poster.
Md back in action Dolby Cinema poster.png|Dolby Cinema poster.
MD Back in Action CCI.png|Exclusive poster from the 2021 Comic-Con international.
Md back in action limited edition.png|Limited edition poster.
MD Back in Action banner.png|Promotional banner.
Md back in action premiere banner.png|Ditto for the film's premiere.
MD Back in action novel.png|Cover of the film's novelization.
MD Back in Action digital cover.png|Digital cover.
MD Back in Action DVD Casing.png|Cover for the release on all 4 formats.
MD Back in Action DVD Casing (WB100 Version).png|Ditto but the variant used for Warner Bros.' 100th anniversary.
==Other links==
*Credits
*Trailer transcripts
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