‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Is Soaring at the Box Office After Warner Bros. Nearly Buried It

Few movies have had a stranger road to theaters than ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ a film Warner Bros. once deemed not even worth releasing. The Looney Tunes hybrid became one of the most talked-about casualties of Hollywood’s tax write-off era, canceled entirely before a public outcry eventually forced the studio’s hand.

That controversy has followed the film through every step of its unlikely journey back to the big screen. Directed by Dave Green and blending live-action with animation, the movie cost roughly $70 million to produce, only for Warner Bros. Discovery to shelve it entirely in 2023, opting instead to use it as part of a reported $30 million tax write-off despite strong test screening scores.

That decision sparked immediate backlash from fans, animation industry figures, and star Will Forte, eventually pressuring the studio into putting the completed film up for sale rather than letting it disappear forever. Indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment acquired the worldwide distribution rights for approximately $50 million in early 2025, finally giving the film a path to theaters years after it was originally finished.

Now that gamble is paying off. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ pulled in a strong $11.9 million during its second three-day weekend, only a 25.2 percent drop from its opening frame, a far gentler decline than comparable family hybrid releases like ‘The Sheep Detectives’ or ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’ experienced at the same point in their runs. The film’s domestic cume has now climbed to $34.4 million, already making it Ketchup Entertainment’s highest-grossing release ever.

That opening weekend performance was notable in its own right. The film debuted with an estimated $15.5 million domestically, edging out Ridley Scott’s $70 million Jacob Elordi vehicle ‘The Dog Stars’ for second place behind ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ ‘The Dog Stars’ opened to just $8 million, a significant disappointment for a film with that level of pedigree behind it.

Audience and critical reception have both been strong throughout the film’s run. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ earned an “A” CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences and currently holds a 95 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, numbers that have clearly translated into the kind of sustained word-of-mouth momentum that’s kept the film performing well into its second weekend.

The film’s box office success carries an added layer of irony given how it originally landed on the chopping block. Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly lost around $20 million when the studio sold the film to Ketchup Entertainment, and ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ has already made that amount back globally, adding a genuinely embarrassing footnote to the studio’s original decision to shelve it.

Ketchup Entertainment, whose distinctly unusual name reportedly references its founder’s favorite condiment, has wisely kept its financial exposure limited compared to a major studio release, giving the film a much stronger chance of turning a genuine profit. Given its current box office run, the movie is reportedly on track for a domestic total somewhere between $55 million and $70 million.

With ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ continuing to hold strong against new competition and its box office totals inching closer to matching what Ketchup paid to acquire it outright, the film has become one of the more satisfying underdog stories of the year. For a movie that Warner Bros. once considered not worth releasing at all, that kind of staying power speaks for itself.

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