Coyote vs. Acme gets a theatrical release after years on the shelf
Cue Writer
Coyote vs. Acme, the completed Looney Tunes comedy Warner Bros. shelved in 2023, is now set for a theatrical release on Aug. 28 through independent distributor Ketchup Entertainment.
The film mixes live action and animation and stars Will Forte as the lawyer representing Wile E. Coyote in a case against the Acme Corporation. Dave Green directed the movie, which was inspired by an Ian Frazier “Shouts and Murmurs” piece published by The New Yorker.
Warner Bros. had completed the film before deciding not to release it. The Associated Press reported that the studio weighed an estimated $30 million to $40 million marketing campaign against the option of taking a tax write-off on its roughly $70 million production cost. The decision put the film alongside Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt as completed projects that would not move forward.
That plan did not stick. After public criticism of the shelving, Warner Bros. put the film up for sale. Ketchup Entertainment, which released The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie last year, acquired it for about $50 million, according to the AP.
The release gives a finished studio film an unusually public second act. For audiences, the important part is simpler: the movie is finally getting a date on the calendar.
Source: Associated Press, Aug. 13, 2026