In November 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery infamously scrapped releasing the live-action/animated hybrid film Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off. The news was a bummer, especially because it seemed like we would never get to see in detail the joy that is a Meep Meep choir.
A week or so after the announcement, however, it looked like the film had the possibility of being resurrected: Warner Bros. Discovery announced that they were allowing the filmmakers to shop the movie, which was originally supposed to premiere on Max, around to other distributors.
We sadly haven’t heard much about those negotiations… until now! Today, Deadline reported that Ketchup Entertainment, which bought the distribution rights for another Looney Tunes film, The Day the Earth Blew Up, is in talks to buy rights for Coyote vs. Acme from Warner Bros. for around $50 million. The movie reportedly cost $72 million to make. This isn’t a done deal, but if it goes through, the film would likely be released in theaters sometime in 2026.
In addition to its Meep Meep choir, Coyote vs. Acme stars the human actors Will Forte, John Cena (pictured above in Peacemaker), and Lana Condor. The movie, according to Deadline, “follows Wile E. Coyote, who, after Acme products fail him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Roadrunner, decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation. The case pits Wile E. and his lawyer (Forte) against the latter’s intimidating former boss (Cena), but a growing friendship between man and cartoon stokes their determination to win.” The film has had a number of screenwriters over its history, but May December screenwriter Samy Burch (who was nominated for an Academy Award for that script), Jeremy Slater (who somehow made The Exorcist feminist and queer), and James Gunn (you’ve probably heard of him) all contributed, with Burch getting the final credit from the WGA.
Again, there’s no official confirmation yet on the fate of Coyote vs. Acme, but it looks like the film has a chance!
