The circumstances under which Coyote vs. Acme was finally released will probably overshadow much of the movie itself, although in a lot of ways, the two are inseparable. After Warner Bros. shelved the completed film as a tax write-off amid its own increasingly bizarre corporate machinations, Coyote vs. Acme became less of a movie than a cause célèbre for the people who believed audiences should actually get the chance to see it. The fact that Warner Bros. was willing to leave this on the shelf while releasing some of its far less defensible recent output only made the whole situation feel that much more absurd. Thankfully, Ketchup Entertainment eventually acquired the rights and gave it the theatrical release it deserved, meaning we can finally talk about Coyote vs. Acme as a movie instead of simply talking about Warner Bros.’ decision not to release it.
And thankfully, there’s actually a pretty fun movie underneath all of that baggage. The premise is almost perfectly suited to the circumstances: Wile E. Coyote has finally had enough. After years of being maimed, blown up, flattened, and otherwise humiliated by Acme products that somehow always malfunction at exactly the wrong moment during his endless pursuit of the Road Runner, he decides to take the corporation to court. What follows is essentially a David vs. Goliath legal comedy, with Wile E. assembling a ragtag team of lawyers to take down the conglomerate responsible for ruining his life.
Will Forte is perfectly cast as Wile E.’s lawyer, bringing exactly the kind of nervous, uncomfortable energy that makes him feel hopelessly outmatched by the corporation he’s taking on. John Cena is equally well cast on the other side of the courtroom, playing Acme’s lawyer with a smugness and self-confidence that feels almost designed around Cena’s particular comedic strengths. He believes completely in his own ability to win, and the movie gets a lot of mileage out of how seriously he takes himself in the middle of something this inherently ridiculous. The casting is smart across the board, with everyone seeming to understand that the movie works best when they play the absurdity straight enough to let the Looney Tunes characters bounce off of it.
The gags are probably the biggest reason I enjoyed this as much as I did. Coyote vs. Acme isn’t especially interested in reinventing the legal comedy, and you can see where most of the story is headed pretty early on, but that’s hardly a dealbreaker when the journey is this consistently charming. The movie has that same winking, innocent quality that made the best Looney Tunes movies so enduring in the first place, and the live-action/animation hybrid is handled well enough to capture some of the magic of movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam without feeling like it’s simply copying either.
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There’s also something oddly fitting about the fact that this particular movie ended up becoming a symbol for the absurdity of modern Hollywood. A story about a little guy taking on a giant corporation that has repeatedly screwed him over being nearly buried by the very corporation that owns the character is almost too on-the-nose. Warner Bros. shelving completed movies for financial reasons isn’t new, and it certainly wasn’t the first time this particular studio had done it, but Coyote vs. Acme became one of the more visible examples of how detached the business side of Hollywood can become from the simple idea that movies are actually made for people to watch. That it eventually found another distributor and reached theaters makes the movie’s existence feel like a small victory in itself.
And that will probably be the lasting legacy of Coyote vs. Acme, even if the movie itself is ultimately more fleeting. Taken purely on its own terms, it’s a consistently funny, charming, and emotionally satisfying crowd-pleaser that knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be. It doesn’t have the ambition or originality to completely transcend its formula, but it also doesn’t need to. There’s something genuinely nice about watching a Looney Tunes character get his day in court, especially after spending years getting repeatedly screwed over by Acme. I had fun with it, and I’m even happier that I got the chance to have that fun at all.
Score: 6/10
Coyote vs. Acme (2026)
- Cast: Will Forte, Lana Condor, John Cena, Tone Bell, Eric Bauza, Luis Guzmán
- Director: Dave Green
- Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama
- Runtime: 103 minutes
- Rated: PG
- Release Date: August 28, 2026
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