Coyote vs. Acme returns with a chaotic first trailer after its wild behind-the-scenes saga
That's all folks
It’s real. Properly real this time. After years of limbo, rumours, and one of the strangest studio decisions in recent memory, Coyote vs. Acme has finally resurfaced with its first trailer and a confirmed cinema release on the 28th of August.
If you missed the saga, here’s the short version. Back in 2023, Warner Bros. shelved the finished film as a tax write-off, despite strong early reactions and a solid creative team that included a story credit from James Gunn. It went down about as well as you’d expect. Fans were baffled, industry figures were fuming, and the film looked destined to sit on a hard drive forever.
Then, in a rare bit of good news, Ketchup Entertainment stepped in, picked it up, and decided to actually release the thing. Which brings us to now, and a trailer that very much knows what it has been through.
The film follows Wile E. Coyote as he finally snaps after years of being blown up, flattened and generally humiliated by faulty ACME products. His solution is to sue. Enter Will Forte as his slightly out-of-his-depth lawyer, backed up by Lana Condor and facing off against a gleefully dodgy corporate rep played by John Cena.
The trailer leans heavily into the courtroom setup, but it is also packed with classic Looney Tunes chaos. There are pianos dropping out of nowhere, characters getting launched across rooms, and a steady stream of cameos from the wider gang, including Daffy Duck and Tweety. You even get a knowing tease of Bugs Bunny right at the end.
What really stands out, though, is how self-aware it all feels. The tagline, “the film ACME doesn’t want you to see,” is not exactly subtle. There are digs at corporate nonsense, winks to the audience, and a general sense that everyone involved knows this film should not have had to fight this hard to exist.
It also just looks… fun. Not in a forced, over-CGI way, but in that slightly scrappy, inventive Looney Tunes style that works best when it does not take itself too seriously. Think more Looney Tunes: Back in Action than Space Jam: A New Legacy, and you are probably on the right track.
After everything it has been through, expectations are understandably a bit all over the place. But based on this first trailer, Coyote vs. Acme might actually pull off the rarest trick in Hollywood. It might have been worth the hassle.
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