Coyote vs Acme is set to hit theaters this weekend. This is the latest film from Warner Bros Animation and Ketchup Entertainment, following last year’s collaboration with The Day The Earth Blew Up, that is based on the 1990 magazine article from The New Worker, titled Coyote V. Acme by Ian Frazier, with elements from Looney Tunes to follow suit. In this latest live-action cartoon incarnation, we see Wile E. Coyote, enlisting a billboard attorney to sue the Acme Corporation for repeatedly selling him alleged faulty products.
When looking underneath the surface, Coyote vs Acme doesn’t seem all that special. It’s being directed by Dave Green, who hasn’t directed a film in a decade, with the last one being the completely disposable TMNT: Out of the Shadows (2016). It’s being co-written by Jeremy Slater, the writer of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and Mortal Kombat II, two very fun but VERY dumb films which the plots falls apart when you think about it for a split second. And it’s being co-produced by Christopher DeFaria, whose last film was the complete and utter live-action cartoon dud that was Tom & Jerry (2021) (You forgot that movie existed, didn’t you?!)! Sure, you do have James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad, and Superman (2025)) attached to the project (although even he hasn’t had the best track record in recent memory *cough* Supergirl (2026)*cough*), it got some fun members to the cast such as Will Forte and John Cena, and there are a few projects that I haven’t mention that the creative team is attached that MIGHT make it seem worthwhile (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves mafia united!) but as a whole, you may wonder why this film is such a big deal to the movie industry when it seems like it could be yet another forgettable “cartoon in live-action” movie for kids and families.
To answer that question, we have to take look back at the development history of Coyote vs. Acme. Not strictly because of how hard this film was to make from a creative side of things but more so from a business side of things. This is a film which it’s own mere existence is one of the better Hollywood underdog stories in recent memory. A film that only exist because of online reactions and backlash and NOT because the heads at WB actually wanted to release it. A film that nearly disappeared and vanished before our very eyes in the form of a snap from Thanos but was somehow resurrected and is about to be released in theaters worldwide this weekend. Because of all of that and more, Coyote vs Acme‘s own existence is quite simply a miracle.
The development of Coyote vs Acme actually began around this time in 2018. You had Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War, and Renfeld) as the film’s producer and Jon and Josh Silberman (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) attached to write the screenplay. In December 2019, Dave Green was hired to direct the film, with the likes of Samy Burch, Jeremy Slater, and James Gunn joining the creative team the following year. The cast got hired in early 2022, with the likes of Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena joining along for the ride, and the live-action filming took place in New Mexico from March to May 2022, with post-production finishing off later on that year.
When looking through those lenses, it sounds like a completely fine production with not much trouble to be found. Sure, it might’ve took a while until the actual filmmaking took place (The film was first greenlight in 2018 after all) but that was likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic that happened in 2020 and 2021, which cause movie theaters all around the world to be shut down and the major studios just beginning to dip their toes into the world of streaming services.
The real question is why did it take so long to release? If the filming was already complete in 2022, that means that this had to have been in the back burner for over FOUR years! What happened from behind the scenes that it took nearly half a decade for the film to get an actual release? To put it simply, studio politics happened!
In 2023, Warner Bros Pictures was in absolute SHAMBLES, with a net lost of millions of dollars and being stuck with so much debt due to the Covid-19 aftermath AND the recent merger with Discovery from the prior year. In order to cut a good chunk of their losses, head CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, David Zaslav began to scrapped finished films that he had absolutely no faith in just for the sake of tax write-offs. This led to the infamous cancellations of the likes of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt, both films in which had wrapped up filming/voice recording but never got the chance to be finished in post-production. Despite there being pleas within the entertainment industry to release those films in finished form, they would never get to see the light of day due to the studio deciding to erase all footage of it completely, giving it ZERO chance of getting leaked out or pirated online anytime soon, if ever.
On November 9th, 2023, Warner Bros announced that Coyote vs Acme would be the next film to get axed. Even though the film was already completed and ready for release, the studio heads still felt releasing it in any way, shape, or form was not worth it, preferring to claim it as a tax loss of about $30 million dollars. This move led to so much outrage and controversy on the internet and through communities of film and animation. Several filmmakers left angry phone calls to Warner Bros, expressing their frustration at this latest move from them, leading to others cancelling upcoming meetings with them and going on strike because of it. After the recent tax write-offs of Batgirl and Scooby, it was the write-off of Coyote vs Acme that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for everyone.
However, five days later on November 13, it was reported that the leaders of WBD had changed their mind and would allow the creative team of Coyote vs Acme to shop the film to other distributors. It was reported that Amazon, Apple+, and Netflix were all interested in buying the rights to the film but no hard offers were reported. The film had been screened for more studios, including Paramount and Sony but nobody would still budge. Despite the film’s very positive test screenings take took place before AND after the film’s faith had a giant umbrella hovering over it, no one seemed interested enough to claim it for themselves.
In February 2024, it was reported that Warner Bros Discovery rejected the bids given by Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount. The heads wanted $75-$80 million to sell the film but no one was willing to meet their price. Because of that, WBD was once again considering shelving and deleting the finished film entirely, again claiming it as a tax loss. During a Q4 earnings call on February 23rd, 2024, WBD took a $115 million write-down but didn’t completely confirm the cancellation of the film. Yet again, this led to a rapid response from filmmakers and film lovers all across the globe.
After the film was reported to potentially getting cancelled, this lead to even more online criticism than before. The hashtags #ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme and #SaveCoyoteVsAcme emerged on Twitter, there was improvised exchange between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck at the 51st Annie Awards which Daffy said, “I hate to be political, but release Coyote vs Acme!”, and industry figures such as Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Michael Chaves, and Daniel Scheinert all expressed their support for the film, all giving it high praise after getting access to special screenings of it, believing it was more than worthy of a worldwide release. However, despite all of the noise and support from top to bottom, none of it seemed like it would matter.
In that same month, Will Forte released a public statement addressed to the cast and crew after seeing the final cut of the film: “I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. […] Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.” A year later, Lana Condor confirmed that the film had a “funeral screening”, just like Batgirl did, when the news broke out of the film’s cancellation. Despite the two-year long fight with the top executives at Warner Bros Discovery, it seems like the fate of Coyote vs Acme would be sealed, joining alongside Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt of being wiped away from existence, almost like it never happened at all. That was until a certain studio decided to come in with the clutch!
On March 19th, 2025, it was reported that Ketchup Entertainment was in talks to acquire all right to the film from Warner Bros for approximately $50 million! Following it’s acquisition of the domestic distribution rights for The Day The Earth Blew Up, Ketchup expressed interested in the project and wanted another partnership with WBD to release the film in it’s entirety. Despite initially wanting $75-$80 million, Warner Bros Discovery accepted the offer and agreed to give the film a full theatrical release. This led to the film getting an early screening at San Diego Comic Con on July 25th, 2026 (likely as a special thanks to film fans for fighting for the film’s release) and getting a full worldwide release on August 28th, 2026.
To say Coyote vs Acme‘s mere existence is a miracle would be an understatement. This was a film that was on the BRINK of being wiped away before our very eyes, all for the sake of tax write-offs and cutting debt due to WBD’s pure incompetence and NOT because of the film itself. Yet, somehow and someway, the entire cast and crew were given a chance to release their film that had already been completed four years ago onto the big screen for the whole world to see. I don’t even need to see the film at all to know that this is a special story in of itself.
Although the early reviews have been very positive and the box office projections seems to track it as being the highest grossing domestic opening for Ketchup Entertainment, Coyote vs. Acme‘s own existence is worthy of being shown on the big screen. Whether the actual finished film is good or not or makes a profit or not is irrelevant (which is why I won’t be giving it a full review), the fact that filmmakers and loves of cinema were able to fight back against the studios and forced them to release the film in of it’s entirety is THE breakout story of Coyote vs Acme. The fact that the actual film is confirmed to be quite good and it might just make it’s money back is the special icing on the cake!
Perhaps miracles are still possible! Than in of itself might just be enough to give one hope in not just entertainment but perhaps the whole world!
