Coyote vs. Acme

OVERVIEW

The fourth film to mix the Looney Tunes characters with real-life humans, Coyote vs. Acme easily has the most creative and intelligent premise of the bunch, a satire of corporate power that gained an extra meta layer through its own troubled distribution history. After decades of failed schemes and defective products, Wile E. Coyote finally decides that bad luck may not be his only problem, hiring a struggling billboard lawyer to sue ACME, the corporation responsible for supplying nearly every gadget that has blown up in his face.

BACKGROUND

The premise for Coyote vs. Acme was originally pitched by James Gunn and developed as an HBO Max original, part of Warner Bros.’ aggressive attempt to expand the service’s content library during the early streaming wars with Netflix and Disney+. The studio eventually spent around $70 million on the production, which was completed and reportedly received positive reactions at test screenings. Its fate changed once David Zaslav took over Warner Bros. Discovery and began a major cost-cutting and restructuring campaign across the company, resulting in the film becoming the third high-profile completed Warner production targeted for shelving, following Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt, with the studio initially planning to claim an estimated $30 million tax write-down rather than release it.

In what became the third major proof of the 2020s that fan backlash can occasionally pay off, following the redesign of Sonic the Hedgehog and the infamous campaign for the Snyder Cut, Warner eventually reversed course and allowed the filmmakers to shop Coyote vs. Acme to other distributors. After several studios expressed interest but no deal materialized, the film ultimately found a home with independent distributor Ketchup Entertainment, finally reaching cinemas four years after it was shot.

THE REVIEW

The fact that Coyote vs. Acme is reaching theaters and audiences is itself worthy of considerable celebration. Hundreds of artists worked on the production only to see the complete film treated as a line on a balance sheet, an ugly precedent that should never have become a viable business strategy. The irony is that Warner attempted this with a film whose entire argument is that corporations invent their own rules and silence anyone standing in their way, and hopefully that irony draws a few more people into the theater.

Its simple yet highly original premise is enough to carry the film, and it is considerably more inventive than the three previous attempts, the two Space Jam films and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which largely relied on the novelty of cartoon characters interacting with A-list celebrities. Coyote vs. Acme is far less interested in the fact that we are seeing classic animated characters in a real-world setting than in telling a proper story with its own internal narrative and stakes. There is actual character development here, not only on the human side, but especially for the cartoon characters at its center.

That the film can, in parts, be described as a character study of Wile E. Coyote sounds like an unbelievable claim that has to be seen to be believed. This is, after all, a character traditionally defined by elaborate plans to capture his next meal, each inevitably ending in some slapstick and increasingly torturous conclusion. Yet watching him gradually realize that there may be things worth fighting for beyond his own selfish interests becomes by far the film’s smartest achievement. The filmmakers remain faithful to Coyote throughout, never betraying his fundamental nature in pursuit of easy empathy. Yes, we pity him, but the film never lets us forget that, at the end of the day, he is still trying to fill his stomach. He learns a few lessons along the way, and one realization during the courtroom sequence genuinely makes us look at those old cartoons through different eyes, finding unexpected depth not only in Coyote, but in his entire relationship with the Road Runner. The way the film ultimately reframes what these two mean to each other might even make you tear up. Crazy, right?

The human characters blend well into the story, with the film striking a good balance between never becoming entirely about them and still giving them enough material to provide the narrative spine, which is particularly important when the actual central character cannot utter a word. Will Forte and John Cena both fit naturally into this universe. Forte brings his familiar everyman qualities with enough earnestness to make Kevin likable even as he spends much of the movie as a beaten-down man who, on paper, is largely devoid of admirable traits. Cena once again has fun tearing apart his own image, in a performance that recalls the comic deconstruction he achieved in The Suicide Squad and, to a lesser extent, the Fast & Furious films. Both earn some good laughs.

Beyond that, the narrative eventually takes the form of a noir detective story, not too far removed from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, particularly during its middle stretch, as the characters investigate the disappearance of cartoons being silenced to preserve the existing status quo. The story moves at a good pace and regularly finds room for clever jokes and amusing sequences, even if there is no explosion of creativity here, with the original Space Jam still beating it in that department. For a movie built around Wile E. Coyote, there are surprisingly few inventive chases, elaborate plans, or memorable set pieces. One scene where the humans attempt to capture the Road Runner is hilarious and made me wish the film had more of that, perhaps with X-Men-style slow-motion escapes or similarly ambitious set pieces built around the absurdity of his speed.

The effects are excellent, with an impressively seamless integration between animation and the live-action world. Steven Price’s score is appropriately orchestral and energetic, with several catchy themes and plenty of the musical elasticity required by Looney Tunes comedy, even if it never produces a melody likely to stick in viewers’ minds quite like Jerry Goldsmith’s terrific work on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, a landmark in comedy scoring.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Coyote vs. Acme is an entertaining and clever film whose greatest strengths are the unavoidable real-life parallels and the surprisingly thoughtful development of Coyote himself. It could have used more elaborate jokes and a few showstopping action sequences. Unfortunately, it is strangely short on the kind of inventive chases that made the character an icon in the first place.

Ultimately, Coyote vs. Acme will probably always be more closely associated with its unfortunate production and distribution history than with its own merits. Still, if that ordeal helps ensure another completed film does not suffer the same fate, then after decades of falling off cliffs, being crushed by anvils, and watching his plans spectacularly backfire, Coyote may have finally scored his biggest victory.

At a glance

3.5/5

“CLEVER”

#55 of 218 in 2026 Movies RankedSee the ranking →

Where to watch

🎟️Rent or buy at Apple TV Store, Amazon Video

Where to watch

🍿In Theaters

Trailer

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