'Coyote vs. Acme' Is Chasing the Box Office Top Spot After Nearly Being Shelved for Good

Few films have arrived in theaters with a backstory quite as improbable as Wile E. Coyote’s live-action legal comedy. The project became infamous well before its release, having been fully completed and then shelved by Warner Bros. back in 2023 as part of a controversial tax write-off strategy that sparked widespread industry backlash.

That near-cancellation turned the film into something of a cause célèbre for animation fans, who spent years advocating for its release rather than letting it disappear entirely. Warner Bros. eventually sold the completed film to independent distributor Ketchup Entertainment, giving Wile E. Coyote an unlikely second chance at reaching theaters.

That second chance has paid off in a big way. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ is now challenging for the number one spot at the box office, with the film within reach of the top ranking this weekend after opening to a solid $15.9 million.

That debut landed the film in second place behind ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ during its opening weekend, nearly doubling the disappointing start posted by Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’ that same frame. Since then, ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ has continued adding to its total, reaching $22.5 million domestically after just seven days in theaters, according to Box Office Watch.

Much of that momentum has been fueled by unusually strong reviews for an animated hybrid comedy, with the film holding a 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release. That reception helped push tracking estimates considerably higher than initial projections, which had placed the film’s opening weekend anywhere between just $3 million and $8 million before positive buzz started building.

Directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch from a story credited to Burch, James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, the film follows Wile E. Coyote as he teams up with struggling attorney Kevin Avery to sue the ACME Corporation over decades of faulty, injury-causing products. Will Forte stars as Avery, with Lana Condor, John Cena, Luis Guzmán and Tone Bell rounding out the film’s live-action cast.

Ketchup Entertainment reportedly paid around $50 million for the film’s worldwide rights before marketing costs, a considerable gamble for an independent distributor working with a fraction of the screen count and promotional budget that Warner Bros. would have had at its disposal. That underdog positioning has only added to the feel-good narrative surrounding the film’s theatrical run.

The film’s continued box office strength comes as Ketchup faces a genuinely uphill battle against bigger studio competition, with box office trackers noting that much of the film’s online enthusiasm has skewed heavily toward audiences in New York and Los Angeles. Even accounting for that geographic concentration, the film’s steady daily grosses suggest broader audience interest well beyond its initial opening weekend crowd.

Whatever happens with this weekend’s rankings, the fact that ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ made it to theaters at all already represents a meaningful win for animation fans who fought to see the project released. A stronger-than-expected performance at the box office would make an even more compelling case against studios shelving completed films purely for tax purposes going forward.

With the film continuing to hold steady against new competition and positive word of mouth still building, ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ looks poised to keep climbing the charts in the weeks ahead. Given how unlikely this theatrical run once seemed, every additional dollar the film earns adds to what’s already become one of the more surprising box office comeback stories of the year.