Coyote vs. ACME is back in the spotlight after its first trailer arrived with a clear target: Warner Bros. Discovery. The film, directed by Dave Green and based on Ian Frazier’s satirical The New Yorker article, is now set to open in theaters on Aug. 28, 2026. That matters because this isn’t just another Looney Tunes revival; it’s a movie that spent more than a year trapped in studio limbo, and the trailer seems determined to turn that history into part of the joke.
Ketchup Entertainment acquired the rights for $50 million in March 2025, after Warner Bros. Discovery canceled the film, removed it from its release schedule, and refused to release the completed movie. For fans who watched the project get shelved, shopped around, and nearly buried, the trailer looks like a pointed comeback. It also gives the movie a chance to sell itself on the one thing people have been waiting for: seeing Wile E. Coyote finally get his day in court.
About Coyote vs. ACME
Coyote vs. ACME was first announced in 2018. The film originally had Chris McKay attached as director, with Jon and Josh Silberman writing the screenplay, before Samy Burch took over those duties. Filming began in early 2022, and Warner Bros. originally expected to release it on July 21, 2023. Instead, the studio pulled it from its schedule in April 2022 and later declined to release the completed film.
That cancellation sparked a loud backlash from Looney Tunes fans, who revolted online and aimed much of their anger at Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. The response included petitions, a Wile E. Coyote costume picketing the studio, Forte speaking publicly about his frustration, and Eric Bauza improvising a demand for the film’s release at the Annie Awards. In other words, this trailer arrives with baggage, and the movie seems happy to wear it.
What the Trailer Shows
- The trailer opens with Wile E. Coyote putting on ACME rocket skates to catch the Road Runner, and the skates explode. That’s classic Chuck Jones material, and it tells viewers immediately that the film understands the rhythm of the old shorts.
- Will Forte plays a small-time lawyer who specializes in settling cases against ACME. That setup gives the movie a legal-comedy angle, which should make the familiar cartoon chaos feel less like a sketch and more like a full story.
- Wile E. Coyote is Forte’s newest client, and the two want more than a small settlement. They’re trying to take ACME down, which gives the whole plot a more aggressive edge than a simple gag reel.
- The trailer includes Looney Tunes characters and classic Looney Tunes-style gags. That should matter to longtime fans, because it suggests the film isn’t just borrowing the brand; it’s trying to work in the same comic language.
- The trailer also lands jokes aimed squarely at Warner Bros. Discovery, with ACME standing in for Warner Bros. One WB title card even zooms into fine print that says WB is a “wholly owned subsidiary of the ACME Corporation.”
- Another line calls the movie “The movie ACME doesn't want you to see.” That’s a blunt jab, and it turns the film’s own troubled history into marketing.
- At the end, Foghorn Leghorn reads a disclaimer: “The ACME corporation is releasing this film for accounting purposes only. We do not condone any of the storylines depicted.” It’s a very pointed bit of corporate satire, and it makes the studio politics impossible to miss.
What This Means for Players
This trailer works because it doesn’t pretend the cancellation never happened. Instead, it folds the whole mess into the film’s identity and uses ACME as a stand-in for Warner Bros. Discovery, which gives the jokes real bite. The line “These companies think they can do whatever they want! We’re sick of it!” lands harder now than it probably did on the page, because the audience already knows the story behind the movie.