'Coyote vs. Acme' Review: You Can’t Kill a Film With This Much Soul
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Seb Jenkins - August 24, 2026
Space Jam meets 12 Angry Men as fans rescue a heart-warming Looney Tunes caper from a cartoon Warner Bros shredder.
Now, I say, I say, what do you mean a tax write-off, boy?!
"That’s all folks" traditionally comes at the end of a Looney Tunes episode, but Coyote vs. Acme was very nearly defined by those three little words entirely. The movie started development in 2018, had a full cast and crew by 2022, and even shot all the live-action elements that same year, but it looked like Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner would never actually see the light of day. Why? Because Warner Bros decided to controversially shelve the project in November 2023 in order to take a $30 million tax write-off. Do you hear it? The wondrous beating heart of Hollywood?! The magic of the movies is alive and well, ladies and gentlemen.
Fortunately, despite WB dropping an anvil, piano, and TNT on Coyote vs. Acme, Looney Tunes fans arrived on the scene just as Elmer Fudd was about to give it two barrels to the head. After mass screams of ‘what’s up, Doc’, Warner was sent into a Tasmanian Devil-like spin and reversed their decision and allowed the filmmakers to seek alternative distributors. In came Ketchup Entertainment and, eight years after development began, Coyote vs. Acme found a more loving home. And, you know what, I tawt I taw a puddy perfect film!
What is Coyote vs. Acme about?
In 1992, in a world where humans and cartoons co-exist, Dr. Peter Lorre makes a shocking discovery inside Acme Labs and sacrifices himself to leak it to the outside world. Over 20 years later, Wile E. Coyote is still trying and failing to catch the pesky Roadrunner, when he comes across an interesting advert for Avery, Jones & Maltese. ‘Have you been horribly injured by a product made by the Acme Corporation? It’s not your fault! There’s probably someone to blame.’ And so, the case of Coyote vs. Acme begins. There’s just one problem – Acme never loses, and Wile E. refuses to settle, against his lawyers' best wishes. Hold on to your rocket skates; it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Beep beep! (We all remember it as meep meep, right?!)
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, and even Pepe Le Pew! Come and join all your Looney Tunes favourites on another wild ride. Honestly, how on Earth did this film get shelved?! It’s full of silly laughs for the kids. It oozes nostalgia for the adults. It even somehow prompts a few tears. Coyote vs. Acme is 50% live action, 50% cartoon, and 100% heart. It somehow simultaneously recaptures the feeling of watching cartoons in the 80s, while also bringing a unique modern twist that makes it more than worthy of the big screen. The fact that they are able to establish a genuinely moving three-act relationship between two characters who never exchange more than a ‘beep’ to one another should be applauded.
In any ordinary film, Will Forte would steal the show as the delightfully downtrodden attorney, Kevin Avery, but alas, he shares the floor with Mr Wile E. Coyote himself. Despite having no dialogue and a limited number of signs, the iconic Looney Tunes character explodes off the screen with devious energy, heart warming character development, and genius animation. Lana Condor grounds the story for a new bright-eyed generation, while John Cena is delicious as Acme’s smug and smarmy lawyer.
Get yourselves into cinemas this week! Take your kids. Take your partners. Take your friends. I promise there will be no cartoon springs or ejector seats. This is much more than a fantastic film, it’s about voting with your feet against the shelving of great media. Ironically, by cashing in on a tax write-off, Warner Bros have created an underdog Coyote vs. Acme story of their very own. I say, I say, you can take that to the bank!
And that really is all, folks.
'Coyote vs. Acme' released in cinemas on August 21, 2026.
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