《Coyote vs. Acme》 Heads to Theaters with a $70 Million Budget and $50 Million Acquisition Price
Ketchup Entertainment bought the shelved $70 million Coyote vs. Acme for $50 million and will release the live-action/animation hybrid in theaters on August 28, 2026.
Director Dave Green
Distribution Ketchup Entertainment
Production Warner Bros. Pictures Animation
Release 2026-08-28 (Theaters)
Runtime 101 minutes
Cast Will Forte · John Cena · Lana Condor · Eric Bauza
The Road to Release
The production budget and rights deal for the live-action/animation hybrid 《Coyote vs. Acme》 have been revealed. Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to release the film, completed at a cost of approximately $70 million, in November 2023 and considered it for a tax write-off of approximately $30 million.
The filmmakers, industry figures, and fans continued private screenings and public support campaigns to make clear that the issue was not the quality of the completed film. Ketchup Entertainment later acquired the rights for $50 million, allowing the film to escape the threat of being shelved and receive a theatrical release opportunity.
Director Dave Green and screenwriter Samy Burch preserved unusual ideas that the studio had tried to change during production. One of them was an animated version of actor Peter Lorre, who appeared in classic Warner cartoons; it remains intact near the beginning of the final film.
The courtroom comedy 《Coyote vs. Acme》, in which Wile E. Coyote sues Acme for making defective products, opens in theaters on August 28, 2026.