Original Coverage & Source Attribution: movieweb.com
Warner Bros. has had a pretty rough year at the box office, which makes one of 2026’s more ironic success stories even harder to ignore. While several of the studio’s higher-profile releases struggled, Coyote vs. Acme has now quietly emerged as a genuine bright spot — despite being the movie Warner Bros. once tried to erase altogether. After shelving the finished film as a planned tax write-off, the studio eventually sold it off, and that gamble now looks especially awkward given how the movie has performed.
Coyote Vs. Acme Quietly Became Warner Bros.’ Biggest Movie of the Summer
Coyote vs. Acme has grossed over the $126 million mark, enough to overtake Supergirl and officially become the highest-grossing movie produced by Warner Bros. this summer. The distinction needs a small asterisk, since Ketchup released the film and collects the theatrical revenue, meaning Warner Bros. technically produced the summer’s winner without profiting from its run. However, a $70 million hybrid of live action and animation that the studio judged unworthy of any release has outperformed the tentpole it actually bet the summer on.
Dave Green’s film, which stars Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena alongside Eric Bauza’s voice work as Wile E. Coyote, opened to $15.9 million in late August, finishing second only to the juggernaut Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That debut looked modest at first glance, but the film held unusually well, dropping just 29% in its second weekend.
The audience response backs that up, with an A CinemaScore and a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score that saw plenty of critics calling it one of the year’s best surprises. Samy Burch’s script, developed from a story she worked out with James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, turned Ian Frazier’s old New Yorker piece about Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation into something reviewers responded to far more warmly than anyone tracking this film’s troubled history would have guessed.
The Film’s Success Looks Especially Awkward For Warner Bros.
It’s tempting to read Coyote vs. Acme as proof that Warner Bros. was simply wrong to shelve it. The film clearing its budget and Ketchup’s acquisition cost in theaters makes that case pretty well. However, it’s also worth acknowledging that the years of free publicity generated by the shelving saga probably helped sell tickets in a way a quiet 2023 release might not have. Coyote vs. Acme is winding down its theatrical run now and is already available on digital platforms.
Coyote Vs. Acme
3
/5
- Release Date
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August 28, 2026
- Runtime
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101 Minutes
- Director
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Dave Green
