"Coyote vs. Acme" Rescued after Warner Bros. Axes Movie

More than a year after Warner Bros. shelved “Coyote vs. Acme” for tax incentives, the Looney Tunes-inspired feature is close to finding a new home.

Ketchup Entertainment is expected to land distribution rights for “Coyote vs. Acme.” 

Thought the sale has not closed, the price tag will reportedly in the $50 million range.

Ketchup Entertainment, an independent distributor, recently spearheaded the theatrical release of “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” after Warner Bros. Discovery decided to shop that film as well. 

“The Day the Earth Blew Up” opened in theaters on March 14 and has grossed $3.9 million at the domestic box office to date.

“Coyote vs. Acme,” a live action-animation hybrid starring John Cena and Lana Condor, was directed by Dave Green and produced by DC Studios co-chief James Gunn. 

Warner Bros. shelved the completed film in November 2023 as a $30 million tax write-off, prompting outrage from the creative community. 

The studio allowed the filmmaking team to shop “Coyote vs. Acme” to other distributors. Around then, Amazon Prime Video, Apple and Netflix screened the movie for consideration but no deal came to fruition.

At the time, “Coyote vs. Acme” was the third casualty of Warner Bros.’ post-pandemic cost cutting measures. Around a year earlier, Warner Bros. shocked the entertainment industry by shelving the $90 million-budgeted DC adventure “Batgirl” and kid-friendly “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” as tax write-offs. All three films were greenlit under the studio’s former boss Jason Kilar, who departed the company in April 2022.

Ketchup Entertainment was founded in 2012 and has released independent films such as Michael Keaton’s comedy “Goodrich,” Ben Affleck’s thriller “Hypnotic” and Jessica Chastain’s drama “Memory.”