‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Back From the Dead? Ketchup Makes Bid to Acquire Scrapped Project

Could “Coyote vs. Acme” live to see another day?

The live-action/hybrid is in the process of being sold to Ketchup Entertainment, the company that just put out another abandoned Warner Bros./”Looney Tunes” project “The Day the Earth Blew Up,” for around $50 million. (When we saw that film at Annecy last year, we trumpeted that it proved the viability of big-screen “Looney Tunes” features.) The deal has yet to be finalized but should it go through, “Coyote vs. Acme” would likely be released in 2026.

Based on a 1990 New Yorker piece by Ian Frazier and directed by Dave Green, “Coyote vs. Acme” was originally slated to be released on July 21, 2023, before being pulled from the schedule. “Barbie” took its place on the calendar and became a phenomenon. By the end of the year, it had been shopped around to various studios, some of whom had shown decided interest (Paramount even wanted to do a hybrid theatrical/streaming release), but Warner Bros. had wanted a much higher number and had discouraged counteroffers.

Early in 2024, the filmmakers were being told that the movie was effectively going to be deleted. A month after our reporting of the situation, Warner Bros. Discovery declared a $115 million write-down on a project that they refused to identify but most assumed was “Coyote vs. Acme.” (Warner Bros. declared similar write-downs for the nearly complete live-action “Batgirl” movie and an animated “Scoob” sequel.)

But the filmmakers persisted.

About 10 months ago, the filmmaking team commissioned a social media analysis of “Coyote vs. Acme.” The objective data that came back from the study showed that there was a higher awareness of the project, which did not have a trailer or a release date, than Warner Bros.’ own “Wonka.” It’s unclear if this data contributed to the decision to continue shopping the project around, but it was presented to Warner Bros. brass.

Currently, the “Looney Tunes” are in an odd place for Warner Bros. They continue to be the mascot of the company, as they always have been, but the original animated shorts were just removed from Max and “The Day the Earth Blew Up” was released by Ketchup. The opening weekend of the feature netted more than $5 million worldwide. This next acquisition would be a huge deal for Ketchup, even though it is lower than what Warner Bros. originally wanted from “Coyote vs. Acme.”

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