‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Just Earned the Best Audience Grade Any Looney Tunes Movie Has Ever Gotten

Few films arrive in theaters carrying quite as much emotional baggage as this one, and even fewer manage to turn that baggage into a genuine triumph. When a completed movie gets shelved purely for a tax write-off, the odds of it ever reaching audiences, let alone winning them over, tend to feel slim at best.

‘Coyote vs. Acme‘ has spent years defying those odds. The live-action and animated hybrid, infamously pulled from release by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2023 before public backlash helped push it toward a new distributor, finally reached theaters this week carrying the kind of underdog narrative that mirrors its own titular character.

That narrative just got its most satisfying chapter yet. The film debuted with an A grade on CinemaScore, marking the best score any Looney Tunes movie has ever received from opening-weekend audiences.

That achievement builds on an already remarkable critical run. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ entered its wide release with a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes based on over 100 reviews, making it not only the best-scored animated release of the year but one of the highest-rated wide releases across the entire calendar. That score also made it the highest-scored Looney Tunes movie in the franchise’s modern history, surpassing 2024’s well-received ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up.’

The film’s road to release has become something of a cautionary tale about studio decision-making in the streaming era. Warner Bros. shelved the completed $70 million production in November 2023 specifically to claim an estimated $30 million tax write-down, a decision that drew immediate backlash from filmmakers and fans alike, especially given reports that the movie had tested well above average for a family film.

Director Dave Green’s project ultimately found new life when Ketchup Entertainment acquired the rights for roughly $50 million in March 2025, setting the stage for its eventual theatrical debut. The company behind the rescue, which also released ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,’ clearly saw an opportunity in a story that blended nostalgic charm with genuine underdog appeal.

The film itself follows Wile E. Coyote, voiced by Eric Bauza, as he hires a struggling lawyer, played by Will Forte, to sue the Acme Corporation over its consistently faulty products. John Cena plays Acme’s opposing counsel, while Lana Condor rounds out the film’s central legal battle as Forte’s niece and fellow associate at the firm.

What makes this response particularly striking is how rare it is for both critics and general audiences to align this enthusiastically on the same release. Reviewers have praised the film’s blend of nostalgic cartoon mayhem with genuine emotional depth, with several comparisons drawn to ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ for its seamless integration of animation and live action.

For a film that nearly never saw the light of day, earning both the best Rotten Tomatoes score in its franchise’s history and the strongest CinemaScore of any Looney Tunes movie represents a remarkable vindication for everyone who fought to see it released. It’s the kind of outcome that feels almost too fitting for a story literally about persistence paying off against overwhelming odds.

With word of mouth clearly working in its favor, ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ now faces the real test of translating that goodwill into box office success in the weeks ahead.

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