Ketchup Entertainment unvaults past film

The movie Warner Bros. didn’t want you to see finally came to theatres on Aug. 28 after being shelved for nearly three years. In November 2023 Warner Bros. announced that their anticipated movie “Coyote vs. Acme” was finished, but would not be released. Instead, Warner Bros. shelved their project in the hopes of receiving a $30 million tax write-off. 

Yet, much like the movies’ protagonist Wile E. Coyote, initial failure was not going to determine the rest of the story. After many years of public advocacy and private attempts to save the film, it was bought by Ketchup Entertainment for $50 million and is finally getting the attention it deserves.

The film has grossed around $37 million domestically following Labor Day weekend, which means that it has surpassed the compensation Warner Bros. would have received if they had written “Coyote vs. Acme” off. The situation gave “power to the people” and was “proving that there was a desire for…smaller releases,” Shannon Cole, executive director of the Vermillion Cultural Association, said.

The controversy surrounding the movies’ release not only sparked interest but also provided an almost perfect backdrop for its hilarious political satire. This movie centers on the idea that Wile E. Coyote is suing ACME for selling him all the products that we’ve seen blow him up, or otherwise harm him, since 1935 during his pursuit of the Road Runner. 

The movie combines wit and physical comedy of the beloved Looney Tunes with a human element that audiences can relate to. Director Dave Green describes this as “If you really start to study him, this is a character who wants something very, very deeply and his passion and his persistence and his resilience are what fuel his every day.”

These elements meld to create a movie that anyone can enjoy, with a humor that reaches everyone. “It was so true to what Looney Tunes was…homage to that with the slapstick comedy and the jokes,” Cole said. All the while it weaves in ideas that make it poignant and interesting for older audiences.

The creativity and talent on this project bounds beyond the humor or characters with the work and skill put into the acting and animations. “Coyote vs. Acme” blends live-action acting and animated artistry. Some familiar faces you’ll see are John Cena as the main antagonist Buddy Crane, and Will Forte as well as Lana Condor playing the grumpy and sunshine friends and legal representatives of Wile E. Coyote. All of whom did an incredible job, especially in maintaining the movie magic that blended the real and the cartoon. None of this is to downplay the talent within the voice actors with some actors such as Eric Bauza voicing as many as ten roles in the movie. 

The animations themselves were a blend of the nostalgic Looney Tunes style and newer technological elements. “They were animated characters but they were so much a part of the world,” Cole said.

Overall, a great many minds and talents came together to bring this project to fruition, and they weren’t going to give up on almost five years of hard work because Warner Bros. shelved it.  

The movie expresses this same sentiment with the line “If we lose we lose, if we quit, we really lose”. This ties into the Sisyphean themes woven throughout the movie. For Wile E. Coyote he repeats the same cycle chasing the road runner over and over; Yet, failing to do so has not deterred him, and instead he is able to try and fail and try again, and find a certain happiness in doing so. I think that this movie shows us that there are some ways we can take after our fellow Coyote.