Coyote vs. Acme finally got the ending fans wanted: a real theatrical release.
Now it has a box office number too.
The Looney Tunes hybrid opened with an estimated $15.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to the Associated Press, finishing second behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Box Office Mojo lists the opening at $15,468,754 from 3,575 theaters.
For a movie that Warner Bros. Discovery once planned to shelve permanently, that’s a meaningful win. It’s also a complicated one.
Coyote vs. Acme had years of online support, a corporate controversy that turned the film into a cause, strong reviews, and a release campaign that leaned into the absurdity of Warner Bros. trying to bury a movie about Wile E. Coyote suing a powerful corporation.
The audience showed up. The next question is whether the movie can reach beyond the people who already wanted it saved.
Coyote vs. Acme was completed before Warner Bros. Discovery decided in November 2023 not to release it. AP reported that the company preferred to take a tax write-off on the film, which was originally produced for HBO Max. Warner Bros. also shelved Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt, both of which remain unreleased.
The decision turned a Looney Tunes comedy into one of Hollywood’s strangest corporate controversies. Filmmakers and fans pushed back, and Warner eventually allowed the film to be sold.
Ketchup Entertainment later acquired worldwide distribution rights for about $50 million. AP reported that the film cost $70 million to make, while Inc. reported that Ketchup also spent about $10 million on prints and advertising.
The movie itself has an unusually perfect premise for its own history. Wile E. Coyote teams with a down-on-his-luck lawyer, played by Will Forte, to sue Acme over the company’s faulty products. John Cena, Lana Condor, and Eric Bauza also star.
The film opened wide on August 28, 2026.
The opening is stronger than it first sounds
A $15.5 million debut is not a blockbuster opening. It isn’t even a runaway family-film opening.
For this release, the number carries more weight.
AP called it the best opening weekend ever for Ketchup Entertainment. The distributor’s previous high was $3.1 million for another Warner-made Looney Tunes castoff, The Day the Earth Blew Up.
That makes Coyote vs. Acme a clear step up for Ketchup. It also gives the film a public result Warner Bros. never allowed it to have in 2023.
The reception helps too. Moviegoers gave the film an A CinemaScore, according to AP. As of August 31, Rotten Tomatoes listed it at 96% on the Tomatometer and 94% with verified audiences.
That reception helps because curiosity alone won’t carry the run. The movie needs legs.
Opening weekend proved that the rescue campaign had real ticket-buying force. The next few weeks will show whether word of mouth can turn a fan-driven win into a broader theatrical run.
The campaign turned controversy into marketing
Ketchup did not have Warner Bros.’ marketing machine, so it used the one asset the film already had: the fight to release it.
TheWrap reported before opening that the film was tracking for a $14 million to $16 million start, helped by the public pressure that kept the movie in the conversation. Ketchup’s campaign also played directly into the backstory, selling the film as the movie Acme did not want audiences to see.
That joke worked because the movie’s plot and the movie’s release saga were almost too perfectly aligned. On screen, Coyote takes a corporation to court. Off screen, fans and filmmakers had spent years arguing that a corporation should not bury a completed film.
Creative Bloq also highlighted out-of-home ads in Mexico that brought Looney Tunes logic into the street, including an Acme-branded piano staged as if it had crushed a car and a billboard that appeared to trap Coyote inside it.
It was a smart campaign. It gave fans something to share, made the controversy legible to casual viewers, and turned a smaller distributor’s limits into part of the appeal.
That kind of participatory movie marketing is a reminder that audience engagement is not only about reach. People share with more force when they feel like they have a role in the release.
Attention still has to become demand
The tougher part is that attention didn’t move every audience signal.
Cosmic Book News, citing The Quorum tracking published by Puck, reported that awareness for Coyote vs. Acme rose from 27% on August 4 to 40% on August 25. Interest moved from 41% to 43%.
That’s the uncomfortable part of the opening. The controversy made more people aware of the film. It didn’t automatically make many more people want to see it.
The campaign still worked. Without the controversy, the movie might not have reached theaters at all. Without Ketchup, it wouldn’t have had a weekend number to argue over. Without the fans, the film’s strongest early audience may never have been activated.
But a film can be famous for being mistreated and still need to sell itself as a movie.
Coyote vs. Acme has the reviews. It has goodwill. It has the underdog narrative. It still has to persuade families, casual moviegoers, and people who know Looney Tunes mainly as inherited pop culture to spend time and money on it.
That’s a different challenge from winning the internet argument.
Warner Bros. gets no easy answer
The opening gives Warner Bros. neither a simple defense nor a simple indictment.
On one hand, $15.5 million is a respectable debut for Ketchup and a public embarrassment for the idea that the movie had no value. The film is reviewing well, audiences like it, and the distributor just posted its best opening.
On the other hand, the number also explains why a major studio might have worried about the math. A $70 million family comedy usually needs a much larger marketing push, and that push costs money. A theatrical release backed by a full studio campaign would have required Warner Bros. to spend heavily on a movie it had already lost confidence in.
Both realities can sit beside each other. Shelving a completed, well-liked movie damaged trust with artists and fans. Releasing it was never guaranteed to turn it into a blockbuster.
That’s why this weekend feels less like a verdict and more like the first measurable result.
The next test is staying power
The best argument for Coyote vs. Acme now isn’t the controversy. It’s the audience reaction.
An A CinemaScore and a 94% verified audience score give the movie a chance to keep moving if families and casual viewers catch up. Back-to-school timing may work against it, but strong word of mouth can still matter for a movie that arrived with more goodwill than ad money.
There’s also post-theatrical value to consider. AP quoted FranchiseRe publisher David A. Gross saying the film’s reception should help set up ancillary business, especially with kids’ viewing. For Ketchup, the theatrical run is only one part of the return.
Still, the theatrical test is important because this whole fight was about whether the movie deserved to be seen.
Now people can see it. The first weekend says enough people cared to make the release matter.
The next few weeks will show whether Coyote vs. Acme is only a great Hollywood survival story, or a movie that can keep finding new viewers after the rescue campaign has done its job.
Image source: Ketchup Entertainment — official trailer for Coyote vs. Acme. Screenshot used for news reporting/commentary.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Coyote vs. Acme make on opening weekend?
Coyote vs. Acme opened with an estimated $15.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. Box Office Mojo lists the opening at $15,468,754 from 3,575 theaters.
Who released Coyote vs. Acme?
Ketchup Entertainment released Coyote vs. Acme after acquiring worldwide distribution rights from Warner Bros. Discovery for about $50 million.
Why did Warner Bros. shelve Coyote vs. Acme?
Warner Bros. Discovery decided in 2023 not to release the completed film and instead planned to take a tax write-off. The decision drew backlash from filmmakers, fans, and animation supporters.
Is Coyote vs. Acme reviewing well?
Yes. Moviegoers gave the film an A CinemaScore, and Rotten Tomatoes listed it at 96% on the Tomatometer and 94% with verified audiences as of August 31, 2026.
Was the opening weekend a success?
It depends on the frame. The opening was Ketchup Entertainment’s biggest ever and a meaningful win for a movie once marked for shelving. But the film still needs staying power and post-theatrical revenue to prove how far the rescue campaign can carry it commercially.
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