Coyote vs Acme Review: A Strong Movie Unjustly Canceled by Warner Bros

It took a long time for Coyote vs. ACME to make it to theaters, and it wasn’t because it missed a left turn in Albuquerque.

Coyote vs. ACME began as a comedic article in a 1990 issue of The New Yorker by writer Ian Frazier. It was a mock court filing in which the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote brings suit against the ACME corporation for all the faulty products he has tangled with while trying to catch the Road Runner in the classic Looney Tunes animated shorts originated by director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese.

In 2015, James Gunn first pitched the idea for a film adaptation of the article to Warner Bros. It was finally greenlit in 2018 and began filming in 2022 under the direction of Dave Green with a script by Samy Burch. It wrapped after a few months and then went through post-production.

In November 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that, despite the film already having been completed, the studio was shelving it alongside a few other films and claiming them as a tax loss.

Fans of Looney Tunes and industry professionals rallied against Warner CEO David Zaslav, as did Coyote vs. ACME stars Eric Bauza and Will Forte. The backlash was swift enough that Warner reversed course by stating the film was now for sale, only to set the price at an exorbitant $75 to $80 million. The film sat on the shelf for more than a year until it was reported in March 2025 that Ketchup Entertainment, which had previously bought and released 2024’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, had purchased Coyote vs. ACME for $50 million.

Coyote vs. ACME is coming to theaters on August 28, and as a lifelong Looney Tunes fan invested in this drama, the wait was entirely worth it.

As Bauza told Polygon back in January, Coyote vs. ACME is half legal drama and half buddy comedy. The main story sees Wile E. Coyote bring a lawsuit against the ACME corporation for all of its products that have backfired on him, and he turns to small-claims lawyer Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte, for help. While Avery wants to settle for a small fee, the Coyote’s drive inspires him to pursue the lawsuit unlike any case he has handled before. Much like Eddie Valiant befriends a toon rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Avery becomes a dear friend of the lonely coyote.

The first thing to love about Coyote vs. ACME is how funny it is. The jokes vary from big physical gags and background jokes to sharply written one-liners and Easter eggs for Looney Tunes fans. They arrive at a rapid-fire pace comparable to comedies like Airplane and The Naked Gun.

The film opens with a brand-new Coyote and Road Runner short that mixes new and classic gags. There are also wall-to-wall background gags delivered by Looney Tunes deep-cut characters who populate this world of humans and toons. Granny shares a particularly funny exchange with Avery regarding her missing husband, noting that his secretary was a penguin.

Looney Tunes die-hards will appreciate the Easter eggs. The main law firm in the film is named Avery, Jones and Maltese after Looney Tunes legends Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Michael Maltese. The movie also features a shocking and hilarious mid-film reveal.

The movie’s approach to reality differs from Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In Coyote vs. ACME, the world is populated by both humans and cartoon characters and treated with complete normalcy, similar to a Muppet film. The Looney Tunes characters are not famous in this reality. When Avery meets Bugs Bunny, he does not treat him like a celebrity, and Bugs simply plays a small part in the case.

This reality comes to life using live-action footage with 3D-rendered cartoon characters designed to look 2D through flat colors and a lack of depth. While hand-drawn animation would have matched Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the 3D-as-2D compromise works because the characters stretch and squash as intended.

The casting of the Looney Tunes characters elevates the film. The story was constructed like a standard screenplay, and the Looney Tunes were cast according to personality. Foghorn Leghorn plays the blowhard boss of the ACME corporation, while Tweety Bird serves as one of ACME’s enforcers.

The human cast is equally strong. Will Forte anchors the movie by acting opposite a silent cartoon character, maintaining emotional resonance throughout. John Cena plays ACME’s bullying legal counsel with notable comedic chops, sharing interactions with Foghorn Leghorn and a scene with Tweety Bird.

The movie avoids recycling 1940s jokes exclusively, offering slapstick alongside a story relevant to 2026. Although completed in 2023, its anti-corporate themes now mirror its own production journey. Coyote vs. ACME functions as a takedown of modern corporate structures while finally giving Wile E. Coyote his day in court.

Source: Polygon