COYOTE VS. ACME Has a Heartwarming Dedication to the Fans Who Helped Save the Movie
It took three years, a $30 million tax write-off, a furious online campaign, actual protests, and one very persistent Coyote, but Coyote Vs. ACME is finally racing into theaters. The people who fought to make that happen are getting some well-deserved recognition in the movie itself.
Just before the credits roll, the filmmakers included a dedication thanking the fans who refused to let the completed movie disappear into a studio vault. According to The New Yorker, it reads:
"To everyone who posted, shared, held up signs, and spoke out when it counted. This film made it to the big screen because of you."
That's a pretty awesome way to acknowledge the fans who spent years fighting for this movie.
Warner Bros. originally shelved the completed $72 million film in 2023 with plans to take a $30 million tax write-off. The situation became even more frustrating when the studio initially prevented the movie from being shopped around to other distributors.
People weren't willing to accept that fate. The cancellation sparked a huge response online and eventually moved beyond social media.
Protesters showed up outside Warner Bros. headquarters, including someone wearing a Wile E. Coyote costume, because sometimes you've got to fight absurdity with a little Looney Tunes absurdity of your own.
The pressure worked. Warner Bros. eventually allowed the movie to be shopped around, which led to a bidding war. In 2025, Ketchup Entertainment struck a deal with the studio for the distribution rights, finally giving Coyote Vs. Acme a path to theaters.
The live-action and computer-animated comedy stars John Cena and Will Forte, mixing humans and cartoons in the spirit of movies like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Cool World.
The story finds Wile E. Coyote finally deciding that maybe the problem isn't him. After countless defective gadgets, traps, rockets, explosives, and other catastrophically unreliable products, he teams up with a reluctant lawyer, played by Forte, and takes ACME to court.
Frankly, after everything ACME has put that poor Coyote through, the lawsuit feels long overdue.
Dave Green directs the film from a screenplay by Samy Burch, who previously wrote May December. The long road to release doesn't appear to have hurt the finished movie, either. Coyote Vs. Acme currently holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fans are constantly told that posting, sharing, campaigning, and making noise won't change studio decisions. In this case, people kept the conversation alive long enough for Coyote Vs. Acme to escape cancellation and get the theatrical release it was made for.
After years of uncertainty, Wile E. Coyote finally gets his day in court and his day on the big screen.
Coyote Vs. Acme opens in theaters on August 28, 2026.