Nearly three years after Warner Bros. shelved “Coyote vs. Acme” for a tax write-off, the film’s cast and crew are revisiting a bittersweet chapter in its saga: a private “funeral” screening held for the team once the movie appeared dead for good. The live-action/animation hybrid opens in theaters Friday through Ketchup Entertainment, closing out a rescue story that became one of Hollywood’s most unlikely comeback tales.
Wile E. Coyote voice actor Eric Bauza has described that farewell gathering as an unexpectedly emotional turning point. What was meant as a mournful send-off for a movie nobody thought audiences would ever see turned into something closer to a celebration, as cast and crew gathered to watch the finished film together for what they believed would be the only time. Editor Carsten Kurpanek later said the project consumed years of his life and that he’d gotten a Wile E. Coyote tattoo before wrapping, a permanent reminder of the effort poured into a film that briefly seemed erased entirely.
Warner Bros. Discovery pulled “Coyote vs. Acme” in November 2023, days after completing a film that had tested well above the norm for family movies. The studio cited a shift toward theatrical-only releases, following the earlier write-offs of “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.” Star Will Forte published an open letter to the cast and crew at the time, calling the finished film incredible and mourning a decision he said he didn’t have to agree with.
Public backlash, including fan campaigns pressuring the studio to release or sell the picture, kept the project alive in the cultural conversation. Streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon and Apple screened the film and made offers that went nowhere until Ketchup Entertainment, the distributor behind “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” acquired global rights in March 2025 for roughly $50 million.
Directed by Dave Green from a script by Samy Burch, based on James Gunn and Jeremy Slater’s original story, the film pits Wile E. Coyote against the Acme Corporation in a lawsuit over its perpetually faulty gadgets. Forte, John Cena, Lana Condor and Bauza lead the cast, with cameos from Looney Tunes staples including Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn. At last year’s Comic-Con panel, Forte told fans he’d nearly given up hope the film would ever reach an audience, calling its journey to the screen almost unbelievable.
