Three years after Warner Bros. moved to shelve “Coyote vs. Acme,” the Looney Tunes film has finally reached theaters — and opened as the No. 2 movie at the domestic box office.
The live-action and animated comedy earned about $15.5 million in its opening weekend from 3,575 theaters, according to box-office tracking data. That placed it behind “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which remained No. 1. (The Numbers)
The opening is notable because “Coyote vs. Acme” nearly never reached audiences.
Warner Bros. originally planned the film for release before deciding in 2023 not to distribute it. The decision drew widespread criticism after reports that the studio intended to use the completed movie as part of a tax write-down strategy.
The project later received another chance when Ketchup Entertainment acquired distribution rights and scheduled the movie for an Aug. 28, 2026 theatrical release. The film’s official website confirms the current theatrical release under Ketchup Entertainment. (Coyote vs Acme)
The result is now an unusual case study in Hollywood decision-making.
A completed movie that one major studio determined was not worth releasing has instead produced a multimillion-dollar opening weekend for a smaller distributor.
That does not necessarily mean Warner Bros. would have made money by releasing it itself. Production, marketing and distribution costs all matter, and published estimates put the movie’s production budget around $70 million. A $15.5 million opening weekend alone does not make the film profitable. (The Numbers)
But the opening does raise a broader question about the economics behind shelving completed films.
Studios routinely make decisions based on more than whether audiences might like a project. Accounting treatment, marketing costs, release schedules, streaming strategy and expected long-term revenue can all influence whether a movie reaches theaters.
In this case, however, there is now something Warner Bros. did not have when it decided against release: actual ticket sales.
The film stars Will Forte, John Cena and Lana Condor and follows Wile E. Coyote as he takes the Acme Corporation to court over the products that have repeatedly failed him in his pursuit of the Road Runner.
Its theatrical performance will become clearer over the next several weeks as the film faces the usual second-weekend drop and additional competition.
For now, “Coyote vs. Acme” has accomplished the thing that once appeared least likely — it made it to theaters, and audiences showed up.