A scene from Coyote vs Acme – credit Warner Bros. Discovery, fair use

Few in America will likely be aware that a critically acclaimed live-action/animated Looney Tunes movie starring Wile E. Coyote was wholly made, then shelved by Warner Bros. studios.

However, after a raucous outcry from the creative team who fell in love with the project and spent months bringing it to life, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) finally agreed to sell the rights to Ketchup Entertainment for what an insider told The Wrap was around $50 million.

Called Coyote vs. Acme, the film is reported to boast that brilliant mixture of adult and childish humor that made Looney Tunes remain relevant for so long among American audiences.

The “Vs.” in the name implies legal action—by Wile E. Coyote against Acme for the countless faulty products he bought from them in his pursuit of Road Runner.

But even though the film had consistently been highly rated by critics and early-screening audiences, it almost received an Acme anvil to its head before anyone in the public could see it.

Reported extensively by The Wrap, Coyote vs. Acme had been green-lit by a previous team of executives, 4 of whom were replaced during production.

The new suits, who had to delay the theatrical release to avoid contending with Barbie, decided to switch strategies, and following the wave of indignation from the film’s production team, said they were willing to let them shop it around.

What they didn’t tell the team was that the price was fixed, and WBD would do the talking. After failing to find a buyer for an $80 million take-it-or-leave-it offer for streaming and non-streaming releases, and rejecting a $50 million offer from Paramount that would include a theatrical release, WBD were prepared to shelve the film permanently and take a $40 million tax write-off in advance of a bad third-quarter earnings miss last year.

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In summary, over a year of creative love-labor that starred Will Forte, John Cena, Lana Condor, and Tone Bell, was nearly “silenced by a movie studio’s balance sheet.”

Will Forte, who plays Wile E. Coyote’s legal counsel, said specifically that the decision made his “blood boil.”

But before that was all folks, it was announced on Monday that the film sold—to Ketchup Entertainment, who recently released another Looney Tunes movie entitled The Day The Earth Blew Up. 

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“We’re thrilled to have made a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to bring this film to audiences worldwide,” Ketchup Entertainment CEO Gareth West said in a statement.

“‘Coyote vs. Acme’ 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.”

A release date in American theaters in 2026 is believed to be most likely.

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