Review
Coyote vs. Acme (2026)
image: Ketchup Entertainment
Director: Dave Green
Writer: Samy Burch
Cast: Will Forte, John Cena, Eric Bauza, Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne, Tone Bell, Luis Guzmán, John Early, Martha Kelly, Kenneth Choi, Candi Milo
Run Time: 1h 41m
UK Rating: PG
8/10
It’s astounding Coyote vs. Acme exists at all. Shelved alongside Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt due to Warner Bros. cost cutting measures with the intention of all three films being discarded as tax writes off. Unlike the other two films Coyote vs. Acme was complete, needing no further spending and the decision to scrap the film seen as particularly callous and mercenary. The film’s star Will Forte vehemently condemned the move which would have meant the hard work of the cast and crew would remain unseen. Industry insiders and animators who had seen previews praised its inventiveness and encouraged Warner Bros. to offer the film to other studios in order to secure some kind of distribution. After a fan campaign and initial interest from Paramount and Netflix, the film was eventually released by Ketchup Entertainment who had also distributed the excellent Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up (2024), another Looney Tunes film that Warner saw fit not to release. It’s a messy backstory that makes the film’s satire about victims of corporate monopolies especially ironic.
Inspired by a New Yorker article by Ian Frazier, the film is set in a world similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) in which humans and Looney Tunes cartoon characters live together, semi-harmoniously. The animated folk obey their own elastic reality and malleable physicality, unburdened by the limited mortality of their human counterparts. Wile E. Coyote (who surely needs no introduction), sick of the constant injuries caused by the failure of Acme’s inexhaustible selection of products decides to sue the company. Carrying his bindle, he ventures into the city and hires down on his luck lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte). The Law firm Avery, Jones and Maltese (named for Looney Tunes veterans Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese) specialise in helping cartoons to sue Acme for quick three figure pay outs for suffering caused by their faulty gadgets. Jaded and slightly pathetic, Avery is a character determined to do the bare minimum professionally and must be tricked by Coyote and encouraged by his idealistic niece Paige (Lana Condor) into a major lawsuit against Acme for their criminal negligence. Acme are represented by Buddy Crane (John Cena) an ultra cut throat corporate lawyer determined to hide the truth of the company’s inner workings. The opposing counsel’s shared history further intimidates Avery and it's only because of Wile E. Coyote who keeps escalating the situation, that Avery must confront his self doubt in order to bring the corporation to justice.
image: Ketchup Entertainment
If it wasn’t finished before all the behind the scenes drama you would assume that the plot was influenced by Warner’s baffling decision to wash their hands of the Coyote vs. Acme. The cruel, heartless decisions of corporate capitalism and an unwillingness to try things in fear of failure feel incredibly on the nose given the origins of the film. The film itself is an underdog best represented by Will Forte’s Avery, a downtrodden everyman trying to eke out a modest living assisting those who’ve been affected by Acme’s disregard for the safety of their customers. Anchoring the film around the sympathetic, likeable Forte works brilliantly, his resignation grounds the chaos that we expect of the Looney Tunes characters. The silent Coyote is a fantastic foil, a devious self proclaimed genius who relentlessly pursues the road runner with no sense of self preservation. His regenerative qualities being used as both a central plot point and as a reassuring motivator for Avery. Expressing himself with held up signs (he has a limited amount) and through emphatic miming, he’s softened somewhat though still recognisable and retaining his murderous intent. The relationship between the pair is believable and heartfelt, Forte managing to convincingly interact with his animated co-star throughout.
John Cena is a worthy antagonist, towering over Forte and bloviating enthusiastically. His brash confidence only being eclipsed by Acme’s CEO Foghorn Leghorn, here a massive swaggering fowl only paused to call out bird based idioms which he finds offensive. The ex wrestler has managed to carve a niche in comedies and delivered a shockingly good performance in Peacemaker Season 2 (2025). Voice actor Eric Bauza does the performances for most of the Looney Tunes characters (much like Mel Blanc did originally) and does an incredible job of making them sound exactly as you would expect whilst also delivering an excellent performance for each role.
image: Ketchup Entertainment
The screenplay by Samy Burch who wrote 2023’s May December manages to be consistently funny (James Gunn and Jeremy Slater also receive story credits), packed with enough jokes to amuse parents and delivering cartoon slapstick to keep kids entertained through the courtroom drama. The script understands that the premise is inherently amusing and by treating it with seriousness the legal aspects of the film remain engaging. It’s a genuine surprise how critical the film is of the American justice system with bribed senators and ineffective judges unwilling to curb corporate power. It’s miraculous that this critique is woven so deftly into a kid’s film that features exploding rocket shoes and magnetic bird seed without being tonally inconsistent. Even the cameos from other Looney Tunes characters manage to be integrated seamlessly without deviating the focus from Wile E. Coyote. I especially enjoyed an appearance from a Deep Throat-esque informer and a missing Acme scientist. Although the cartoon characters are beautifully and expressively animated it’s not done with the same level of skill as Robert Zemeckis achieved in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). That film however was done with a painstaking level of care and meticulousness and set what’s now an impossibly high standard. Coyote vs. Acme is more than acceptable taking care with the emotional verisimilitude over the physical.
It’s a fantastic film and it’s dispiriting to think that it was almost abandoned, fully finished in aggressively awful studio tax shenanigans. Ketchup Entertainment deserves a lot of credit with distributing the film and marketing it so inventively. Watching with two young children, I was reminded just how enduring these characters are with both laughing hysterically throughout (the oldest particularly enjoyed an interaction between Cena’s Crane and Tweety). Warner Bros. has largely abandoned Looney Tunes (along with much of their cultural legacy) but I genuinely hope Coyote vs. Acme can reaffirm why these characters have remained in the public’s consciousness for nearly a century.
Watched at Cinema
Published 23rd August 2026