‘Coyote vs. Acme’ is a triumphant underdog story

This article contains spoilers for “Coyote vs. Acme” (2026)

In February 1990, The New Yorker published a satirical article about Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation for all the years of damages from malfunctioning products.

In August 2026, that article evolved into a feature film with a behind-the-scenes story so compelling it will probably become its own movie someday.

Let’s wind the clocks back.

In 2015, a younger, much less influential James Gunn pitched a movie based on the original New Yorker article to Warner Bros. Three years later, production had begun.

Between then and 2023, different writers were attached to the project, with Dave Green settling in as director. John Cena, Lana Condor and Will Forte all agreed to star, and the film finally began shooting in 2022.

Originally, the film was supposed to release on July 21, 2023, a date it was moved from so it didn’t have to compete with two little movies called “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Maybe you’ve heard of them.

The film was done. According to those who’d seen it, it was good. All it needed was a release date.

But Warner Bros. had other plans.

Amid financial turmoil and active negotiations to sell the company, Warner Bros. opted to shelve the film entirely and take a $30 million tax write-off. 

At the time, this move wasn’t surprising. Other finished films, including “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” had met similar fates around the same period. 

It seemed “Coyote vs. Acme” was dead.

But just four days later, Warner Bros. decided that, instead of shelving the movie, they would shop it out to other distributors. The movie languished in negotiations between studios for years, before Ketchup Entertainment came to the rescue, purchasing distribution rights for $50 million.

It’s not often that we get an example of creative vision winning out over studio meddling. Thankfully, the thousands of talented people who put their time and effort into this film will get to see their hard work rewarded. 

Sometimes, a movie comes along that’s more important than it is good. “Coyote vs. Acme” certainly falls into that category.

But the movie is still great.

Borrowing the premise from the original New Yorker article, the film sees Wile E. Coyote bring a lawsuit against the ultra-powerful Acme Corporation after decades of using their technology to attempt to catch the Road Runner. He hires small-time attorneys Kevin and Paige Avery (Forte, Condor) to fight against Acme’s army of lawyers, led by Buddy Crane (Cena).

Like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Space Jam” and others, “Coyote vs. Acme” combines live action and animation. Maybe more than any of its predecessors, this film takes full advantage of that crossover.

The weakest parts of this film are the live-action scenes. The movie isn’t particularly visually interesting. There aren’t too many risks being taken directionally, leaving for a serviceable, at times bland, cinematic experience.

Apart from Kevin Avery, these human characters are pretty underdeveloped. Paige is competent and idealistic, but serves little purpose beyond pushing Kevin to become better. She doesn’t really have an arc of her own.

The same can be said for Cena’s Buddy Crane. While an antagonist doesn’t necessarily need to be the most compelling, his motivations and tactics are often so contradictory that it can be hard to parse what his actual goals are at times.

The live action definitely leaves a bit to be desired, but the animation captures everything you could want.

More than anything, this film is charming. It perfectly captures the manic, unpredictable energy of the old Looney Tunes show. There’s always something interesting happening in the background, which is good, because sometimes the foreground is uninteresting.

The animation in this movie is imaginatively integrated and consistently fun. It feels like watching a cutscene from an old LEGO video game. There’s a whimsy and enchantment to this film that’s extremely hard to replicate.

Coyote and the Road Runner are perfectly presented, still maintaining the simple desires that made them iconic, while being fleshed out further in this feature-length setting. Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety and Sylvester all make tasteful appearances.

But Bugs Bunny, predictably, steals the show.

I genuinely got goosebumps when I heard his voice for the first time. His appearance injects energy into a script that had begun to stagnate, while also providing some electric slapstick humor. He earns some of the film’s funniest and most memorable moments despite having less than five minutes of screen time.

His appearance also highlights the best part of this film. “Coyote vs. Acme” is ridiculously funny.

I feel like I need to go back and see this movie a second time, because I definitely missed some jokes. There’s so much laugh-out-loud humor in this film that I want to experience in a theater with more than two people. 

The script has a tight self-awareness that lets characters play jokes straight or lean into absurdity, depending on the moment. There’s flexibility in style, ranging from simple punchlines to references to Looney Tunes stories to environmental humor.

Coyote sits in the lobby of a law office reading “How to Wait Dramatically.” I mean, come on.

It’s especially poignant for this movie to be about fighting against a big corporation, when it had to fight one just to be seen. In the movie’s final act, when the cartoons come together to support Kevin Avery, it’s hard not to draw a parallel to the public coming together to support the immensely creative people behind this work of art.

“Coyote vs Acme” might not work for everybody. The humor and emotions the film is going for could easily seem confusing, forced and unearned if you don’t have fond memories of the Looney Tunes, or even of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner specifically.

But I do.

I remember my dad showing me old episodes of Looney Tunes at the kitchen table. I remember the soft white glow of the dining room light in our old house. I remember specifically rewatching Wile E. Coyote clips over and over. I remember my brother, still a toddler, laughing next to me.

I’ve gone back to those old animations time and time again to experience that same childlike joy. Even though the format never changed, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote grew up with me.

Maybe I’ve grown too attached to this cartoon bird and dog, but when “Coyote vs. Acme” reached its emotional catharsis, it felt like a payoff to 21 years of buildup.

For all its silliness, Wile E. Coyote represents something very human. Pursuit. Failure. Persistence. It’s no coincidence that the shadowy project that Acme runs is called Project Sisyphus. 

The Road Runner is the Coyote’s boulder. All of us have our own boulder, our own Road Runner. It could be a career, or a bad habit, or just trying to make it through the day.

Maybe we’ll eventually get that boulder to the top of the mountain. Maybe we’ll eventually catch that Road Runner. Maybe someday.

Maybe tomorrow.