#CoyoteVsAcme is the hashtag for the Looney Tunes hybrid live-action/animation film that Warner Bros. Discovery shelved as a tax write-off in November 2023, was rescued after a fierce public backlash, and finally reaches U.S. theaters on August 28, 2026 through upstart distributor Ketchup Entertainment. The film stars Will Forte as a struggling lawyer who takes on Wile E. Coyote as a client to sue the Acme Corporation, with John Cena as opposing counsel — and its improbable path to a theatrical release has kept its hashtag active in industry press and film Twitter for nearly three years.
The Film
Coyote vs. Acme is a courtroom comedy in which the perpetually thwarted Wile E. Coyote finally hires a lawyer — Will Forte, playing an underdog attorney — to sue the Acme Corporation for its endless history of malfunctioning, life-endangering products. John Cena appears as the polished Acme in-house counsel across the courtroom. The film blends live-action performances with hand-drawn and computer-generated animation of the classic Looney Tunes characters, in the vein of Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Ketchup Entertainment’s official site confirms the August 28, 2026 U.S. theatrical release, and previewed clips ahead of the drop.
Origin & Rescue
Warner Bros. had developed the film for years as an HBO Max streaming original. Production wrapped in 2023, but in November 2023 Warner Bros. Discovery shelved it to book a tax write-off — one of a wave of unreleased-film write-downs the merged company had used to shrink its content bill. The move sparked immediate backlash from Looney Tunes fans, filmmakers, and industry press, who noted that the completed film had reportedly tested well and had never even been released to the streaming platform it was made for.
By early 2024 Warner Bros. had reversed course and allowed the producers to shop the film to other distributors. In March 2025, Ketchup Entertainment — a small independent distributor that had previously picked up Warner Bros. Animation’s The Day the Earth Blew Up (2024) — closed a reported $50 million deal for the rights, and set the August 2026 theatrical release.
Industry Impact
The Coyote vs. Acme saga became a case study in the tax-write-off era of streaming-first film production. Deadline’s August 2026 review coverage explicitly framed it as a movie that “finally got its day in court” — both narratively (Wile E. Coyote suing Acme) and industrially (a completed film that survived being deleted for accounting reasons). The Hollywood Reporter’s earlier feature on the film’s revival became a reference point for later industry conversations about which shelved projects — animated or otherwise — could be resurrected by third-party distributors.
For Ketchup Entertainment, the release doubles as a proof point that a small, focused independent distributor can profitably pick up major-studio work that big streamers no longer want. For Warner Bros. Discovery, the outcome is a public reminder that some tax-write-off decisions can be reversed by pressure, at the cost of the studio’s own future distribution rights.
Cast & Creators
- Will Forte — the underdog lawyer taking on Wile E. Coyote as his client
- John Cena — opposing counsel for the Acme Corporation
- Directed by David Green (the original 2023 completed production)
- Original studio: Warner Bros. Animation / Warner Bros. Pictures
- Theatrical distributor (2026): Ketchup Entertainment
Variations & Related Tags
- #WileECoyote — the plaintiff and franchise anchor
- #LooneyTunes — the broader franchise tag
- #SaveCoyoteVsAcme — the 2023–24 fan campaign hashtag that helped force the film’s revival
- #KetchupEntertainment — the distributor that finally released it
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_vs._Acme
- https://deadline.com/2026/08/coyote-vs-acme-review-movie-warner-bros-shelved-2023-1237031528/
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/inside-revival-coyote-vs-acme-movie-1236671186/
- https://www.movieinsider.com/m16743/coyote-vs-acme
- https://www.moviefone.com/movie/coyote-vs-acme/jcSgHJvodgh3q2UmbeUsa3/main/
- https://www.bam.org/film/2026/coyote-vs-acme