Coyote vs. Acme — BrandWiki

Coyote vs. Acme

alt	Wile E. Coyote fleeing from a giant wrecking ball with the film's logo printed on it on a desert.
director	Dave Green
screenplay	Samy Burch
story	James Gunn Jeremy Slater Samy Burch
based on	"Coyote v. Acme" by Ian Frazier‡R1R‡
producer	James Gunn Chris DeFaria
starring	Will Forte Lana Condor John Cena
cinematography	Brandon Trost
editing	Carsten Kurpanek
music	Steven Price
studio	Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Animation Group Two Monkeys, A Goat and Another, Dead, Monkey
distributor	Ketchup Entertainment
country	United States
language	English
budget	$70–72 million‡R2R‡

Coyote vs. Acme is an upcoming American live-action animated legal comedy film directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch from a story by Burch, James Gunn, and Jeremy Slater.[3] The film is based on the 1990 The New Yorker magazine article "Coyote v. Acme" by Ian Frazier (itself using elements from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies franchise), and follows Wile E. Coyote as he sues the Acme Corporation for repeatedly selling him alleged faulty products. The film's cast includes Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena.

Development began in August 2018 with Chris McKay as producer and Jon and Josh Silberman writing the screenplay. Green was hired to direct in December 2019, and Burch, Slater, and Gunn joined the following year. Cena, Forte and Condor were cast in early 2022. Live-action filming took place in New Mexico from March to May 2022. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Animation Group, and Gunn's production banner Two Monkeys, A Goat and Another, Dead, Monkey.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Production

Development and writing

In August 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures announced the development of a Wile E. Coyote project, titled Coyote vs. Acme, with The Lego Batman Movie (2017) director Chris McKay as producer and Jon and Josh Silberman writing the script.[12] In mid-December 2019, Warner Animation Group hired Dave Green to direct the live-action/animated hybrid film,[13] while Jon and Josh Silberman were replaced as screenwriters, but remained producers.[14] In December 2020, McKay left the project, while Jon and Josh Silberman left their producing roles and returned to screenwriting duties alongside Samy Burch, Jeremy Slater, and James Gunn.[15] Along with the departure of McKay, it was reported that the film draws inspiration from the fictional 1990 New Yorker article of the same name by Ian Frazier.[15] In March 2023, the film's final writing credits were given: Burch received sole credit for the screenplay and shared credit for the story with Slater and Gunn, while off-screen additional literary credit was given to Alex Cuthbertson, Jacob Fleisher, Matt Fusfeld, Dan Goor, BenDavid Grabinski, Craig Wright, and Jon and Josh Silberman.[3] Gunn, alongside Tom & Jerry (2021) producer Chris DeFaria, also received final credit as producers on the film, with Gunn under his production banner Two Monkeys, A Goat and Another, Dead, Monkey.[15]

Years before the film's announcement around 2015, Gunn pitched the film's concept to Warner Bros. and brought Slater to write the film's first draft due to their friendship, which he enjoyed due to growing up with the Looney Tunes cartoons; obeying some limitations in regards to what he could include due to other projects from the franchise that were concurrently in development even though they were not in the conceptual phase yet, with the inclusions of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck being off-limits for example, Slater's script had the Tasmanian Devil as an antagonist for a scene where everyone has to run away from him in his deranged form and included a sequence with a "little bit of cartoon-stuff" of the Coyote classically chasing the Road Runner, the latter being his only contribution that remained in the finished film. He and Gunn discussed the project and decided to make a movie for fans of the characters with expected comedy and visual-sight gags, but with some heart so the audience would care about the title character instead of making him the "butt of the jokes" due to his reputation as a loveable loser, unlike past Looney Tunes movies where everything is "a live-action cartoon" where everything is treated as a gag, with both opting to make the Coyote's story feel like that of a man getting a dog for the first time due to both loving their dogs and the bonds they unexpectedly formed with them, hence why they opted to never have the Coyote speak to someone or break the fourth wall so the audience could feel their pets through him. When Slater handed in his draft, Warner decided it was not what they were looking for at that time, so Slater moved on until he was contacted eight years later and told the project had been greenlit after going through dozens of writers with the final draft not having a lot of his original draft's content but capturing his own's spirit, emotion and central relationships, praising Burch for her job.[16]

In November 2022, Foghorn Leghorn, Granny, Sylvester the Cat and Tweety were confirmed to be in the film.[17][18] In December 2022, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam were also confirmed to be in the film.[19][20] In January 2023, Porky Pig was also confirmed to be in the film.[21] Editor Carsten Kurpanek described the film's story as a "David vs Goliath story" that tackles Wile E. Coyote's persistence in the face of the Acme Corporation's "cynical and casual cruelness of capitalism and corporate greed".[22]

Casting

In February 2022, John Cena was cast as the film's main antagonist, described as the lawyer in defense of Acme and the former boss to Wile E.'s lawyer; he previously collaborated with Gunn on the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) projects The Suicide Squad (2021) and Peacemaker (2022–25).[23] The following month, Will Forte and Lana Condor were added to the cast, with Forte starring as Wile E.'s lawyer.[7]

Filming and production design

Principal photography took place from March to May 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with Brandon Trost serving as cinematographer.[24][25] The creative team acknowledged Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) as a reference for the film's live-action interaction with animated characters.[26] New Mexico Film Office director Amber Dodson commented in a press release that the production would "showcase our beautiful city as an already iconic location and setting in the Looney [Tunes] cartoons".[27]

Visual effects and animation

Visual effects and computer animation were provided by DNEG for Wile E. Coyote and other significant Looney Tunes characters.[29][30] According to Green, the 3D animators worked closely with a team of 2D artists, who guided them with drawn poses and expressions of the characters in order to "[find] the building blocks of performance".[31] Editor Carsten Kurpanek explained that "artists would do [black-and-white] line drawings of key poses over a rough edit first", which were later used as reference for visual effects and animation; this process was dubbed "sketchviz" by the crew.[31][32] Traditional animation services were also provided by Duncan Studio, for "a handful of shots" with the significant Looney Tunes characters in the film and for "certain [Looney Tunes] characters [who] were handled entirely in 2D".

Music

Following the announcement of the film's initial cancellation, Steven Price announced that he composed the film's score, and shared a choir rendition of the Road Runner's vocal effects titled the "Meep Meep Choir".[34]

Release

Coyote vs. Acme is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 28, 2026.[9] It was initially planned to be theatrically released in the United States on July 21, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[15] On April 26, 2022, the studio removed the film from its release schedule, replacing it with Barbie.[35] On March 31, 2025, it was announced that the film is set to be released in 2026, following the film's acquisition by Ketchup Entertainment.[36] In July 2025, it was given its specific release date at San Diego Comic-Con.[37]

Initial cancellation, reversal and further discussions

On November 9, 2023, Warner Bros. officials announced that the film was completed, but that they would not release it, because Warner Bros. Discovery preferred to claim a tax loss of about $30 million.[38] This would make it the third cancelled film by Warner Bros. Discovery following Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. The crew was not informed of the decision until after the film was completed.[39] The move drew criticism from filmmakers, animation outlets, and talent representatives. Several filmmakers left angry phone calls with Warner Bros. expressing their frustration at the move.[40] Others also canceled meetings with the studio.[2] Many noted that the film had drawn praise at test screenings and interest from potential buyers.[41][42]

On November 13, 2023, Puck reported Warner Bros. Discovery leaders had reversed their decision and allowed the filmmakers the option to shop the film to other distributors.[44][45] Deadline Hollywood reported that Amazon MGM Studios, Apple Studios, and Netflix were interested in buying the distribution rights to the film.[40][46] TheWrap reported that despite interest from distributors to buy the film, there are "currently no hard offers, and that Green is crafting his own 'PR campaign'".[47] On December 8, Deadline Hollywood further reported that the film had been screened for more studios including Paramount Pictures

On February 9, 2024, TheWrap reported that Warner Bros. Discovery had rejected the bids from Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount.[49] The company wanted $75–$80 million to sell the film, but no distributors met their price, and Warner Bros. Discovery rejected counter bids. The company considered shelving and deleting the film (which remained in limbo at the time) and again claiming it as a tax loss.[50][51][52][53][54] Following their Q4 2023 earnings call on February 23, 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery took a $115 million write-down while not directly confirming the cancellation of the film.[55]

On March 10, 2024, during the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards, Burch said conversations were still ongoing within Warner Bros. and that "we hope it will somehow find its home and not end up stuck in a vault for the rest of time".[56] In April 2024, a Warner Bros. spokesperson told The New York Times that while the fate of the film is unclear, it "remains available for acquisition".[57]

Responses

As with the initial cancellation, TheWrap report on the film's possible final cancellation drew online criticism. The hashtags #ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme and #SaveCoyoteVsAcme, along with other hashtags relating to it, started trending on February 9, 2024 (the date of the article's release), and continued to trend for the following weeks.[49] Eric Bauza addressed this in an improvised exchange between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck during his speech at the 51st Annie Awards, with him saying "I hate to be political, but release Coyote vs. Acme!" in Daffy's voice.[58][59]

Industry figures who saw Coyote vs. Acme included Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Michael Chaves, and Daniel Scheinert.[50] Lord called the film "wonderful" and "moving", and lamented that Warner Bros.' move was "anticompetitive", while Miller said he "[hoped] several studios go after it so the world can see all the good work people did."

Responses

As with the initial cancellation, TheWrap report on the film's possible final cancellation drew online criticism. The hashtags #ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme and #SaveCoyoteVsAcme, along with other hashtags relating to it, started trending on February 9, 2024 (the date of the article's release), and continued to trend for the following weeks.[49] Eric Bauza addressed this in an improvised exchange between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck during his speech at the 51st Annie Awards, with him saying "I hate to be political, but release Coyote vs. Acme!" in Daffy's voice.[58][59]

Industry figures who saw Coyote vs. Acme included Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Michael Chaves, and Daniel Scheinert.[50] Lord called the film "wonderful" and "moving", and lamented that Warner Bros.' move was "anticompetitive", while Miller said he "[hoped] several studios go after it so the world can see all the good work people did."[50]

Sale to Ketchup Entertainment

On March 19, 2025, Deadline reported that Ketchup Entertainment was in talks to acquire all rights to the film from Warner Bros. for approximately $50 million, following its acquisition of the North American distribution rights to The Day the Earth Blew Up. If negotiations proved to be successful, the film would be scheduled for a theatrical release in 2026.[65] On March 31, Deadline and Ketchup Entertainment confirmed that the sale had been closed, with a statement from Ketchup's CEO reading, "We're thrilled to have made a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to bring this film to audiences worldwide. [The film] is a perfect blend of nostalgia and modern storytelling, capturing the essence of the beloved Looney Tunes characters while introducing them to a new generation. We believe it will resonate with both longtime fans and newcomers alike."[36]

On May 8, Deadline reported that the film was set for international sales at the Cannes Film Market through Kinology, with footage available for buyers and a potential market screening.[66]