To say witnessing Coyote vs. Acme on the big screen was surreal is an understatement. The release of the film was a long traitorous journey, from Warner Bros. shelving the film back in 2023 to millions of fans and celebrities calling for the release of the film. Ironically, the plot of the film about taking on a big corporation mirrors the real life events to an extent. It is still astonishing that Warner Bros. wanted to destroy the film and never see the light of day. Thanks to the support from fans, celebrities, and everyone who worked on the film, audiences can finally witness the film they did not want you to see: an epic David vs. Goliath fight between a big corporation and a coyote.
After years of failed attempts at capturing the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote (portraying himself) grows tired of never achieving his goal. Feeling cheated by the ACME Corporation for their malfunctioning products, everyone’s favourite coyote enlists the help of local Albuquerque lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte) and his niece Paige (Lana Condor) to sue ACME. Battling up against the lead attorney of ACME Buddy Crane (John Cena) and CEO Foghorn Leghorn (Eric Bauza), they find themselves in a battle to take down ACME while investigating the shady business they’ve done in the shadows.
High praise goes towards the animation department for their hard work on the film. The cel-shaded style mixed with 3D and 2D animation offers a unique realistic look to the world of Looney Tunes inside a live action setting. What makes the look and feel different from the previous live action iterations is how much more life-like the characters appear on screen. Both Space Jam and Looney Tunes Back in Action showcase the traditional 2D animation in a live action setting that fits the fantasy-like world of the universe. However, there is limited imagination with the style to make it more realistic in a live action world. The cel-shaded style offers more creativity to have the roster of beloved characters feel like they’re in the real world. Examples include the turning of animated characters, more flow interacting with real objects, and humanoid actors having more room to breathe and to explore the slapstick humour with Coyote, Daffy, and other Looney Tunes characters that are beloved by many.
Leads Will Forte and Lana Condor deliver fun performances, alongside John Cena’s parody lawyer of the over the top patriotic American man claiming to want to help the workingman. Forte and Condor balance each other’s performance. Forte’s clumsy but lovable lawyer fits into the wacky world of Looney Tunes while Condor’s enthusiastic intern helps bring sanity. The difference in personalities offers up some funny and creative humour between the uncle and niece. The real star of the film is none other than Wile E. Coyote. He finally has his time to shine and showcase his acting debut as opposed to being sidelined like the previous Looney Tunes movies. Watch out Leonardo DiCaprio, we got a new Oscar winning big shot! A talented coyote that does not need to be attacked by a bear to win an Oscar. A bright young star whose able to bring audiences to tears with his struggles against the ACME Corporation, and bring laughter with his shenanigans and hunger for the Road Runner.
Coyote vs. Acme isn’t without its flaws. While entertaining, the story is your formulaic good vs. evil story. It checks out a lot of the standard storytelling plot points audiences know from the first day of the trial to the climax of the film. The film’s humour does help elevate the story and weighs out the formulaic elements enough to make up for it. Speaking of the plot, Coyote taking on ACME with millions supporting him coincides with the aftermath of Warner Bros.’s initial decision. The momentum of millions posting online and spreading the word to save the film took on the big movie corporation, only for small entertainment Ketchup Entertainment to step in and help audiences by saving the film from being permanently destroyed. There is poetic justice in how Ketchup Entertainment is standing up to the big billion dollar corporation to give the film its release it deserves.
Whether you end up a fan of Coyote vs. Acme or not we can all agree how important the release of the film is. Much like ACME Corporation taking advantage of the cartoon characters with their default products for money, Warner Bros. themselves thought very little of audiences’ reception to a movie that was already completed and took a small loss ($30 million). It’s worth noting how important it is to support the film, and hopefully no other filmmakers get to experience their hard works shelved, never to see the light of day.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Ketchup Entertainment.
Directed by Dave Green
Screenplay by Samy Burch, from the New Yorker article by Ian Frazier, from characters created by Leon Schlesinger, Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
Produced by Christopher DeFaria, James Gunn
Starring Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena, Eric Bauza, Tone Bell, Luis Guzmán, Martha Kelly, P. J. Byrne, Kenneth Choi
Premiere Date: July 25, 2026 (San Diego Comic Con)
Running Time: 103 minutes
Other Writers Say…
Jaime Rebanal
If I felt like it, I would have typed all my Rs and Ls to be Ws like the way that Elmer Fudd talks. There’s a good laugh-to-minute ratio sustained for 100 minutes, which might be what you would want out of a movie built around Looney Tunes characters. Yet, there’s a certain believability to the world that blends such characters seamlessly alongside real humans that starts with the logic by which everything is operating. Thus, we’re quickly thrust into Wile E. Coyote’s legal battle against the Acme corporation – especially knowing that such characters constantly rely on their failing products. It’s a fun conceit, one that seeks to take down the big moneymakers while the people using them constantly fail, especially in an age where megacorporations maintain a massive presence in our lives.
Not sure that there are really any surprises present in how it all unfolds, but I think that Coyote vs. Acme just gets the job done perfectly enough. Though I suppose that the idea of an underdog starting a legal battle against corporate bigwigs probably struck a nerve for the current leadership at Warner Bros. that they would try to shelf this for a tax write-off. A bit ironic, sure, though it probably says more about the sad direction the studio is moving in, especially with David Ellison wanting to get his hands on them.
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