Box Office: Warner Bros considers selling Coyote vs Acme after underperformance of their recent toon movie

Warner Bros in talks to sell Coyote vs. Acme to Ketchup Entertainment as the distributor's latest release, WB’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, struggles at the box office.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 20, 2025 | 05:31 PM IST | 5.5K

Picture Courtesy: Warner Bros

Warner Bros.’ shelved Coyote vs. Acme movie may have found a new home with the same distributor that released The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie this past weekend.

Gareth West’s company, Ketchup Entertainment, per Deadline, is negotiating an all-rights acquisition of the animated/live-action property for USD 50 million. The deal, per the outlet, isn’t finalized yet, and there is a chance it won’t go through, but for now, it’s heading in the right direction. This makes us curious about the ongoing performance of the Looney Tunes movie, currently playing in theaters near you, as it could very well suggest the fate of Coyote vs. Acme.

The film opened in North America with a USD 3.15 million gross. After almost a week, it stands at USD 3.97 million. Internationally, the film has made USD 2.11 million, for a worldwide total of USD 6.08 million. The film cost USD 15 million to make, meaning it’s well on its way to becoming a box office dud.

Coyote vs. Acme reportedly boasts a USD 70 million budget. By entering negotiations with Ketchup in the range mentioned above, WB is already losing significant money, but if the offering performs similarly to the other film, it will be disastrous for those attached to the venture since as far back as 2018.

The studio initially shelved Coyote vs. Acme in November 2023 to obtain a tax write-off but later screened it to a string of buyers to no avail. Notably, both The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and Coyote vs. Acme were intended for HBO Max. Ketchup negotiated the deal for the former film with the WBTV Animation Group.

Will Forte, John Cena, Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne, Tone Bell, Martha Kelly, Eric Bauza, and more star in the film directed by Dave Green. The screenplay was handled by Samy Burch, with James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, and Samy Burch contributing.

The plot follows Wile E. Coyote, who, after being persistently disappointed by Acme Corporation products, decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the company. If Ketchup Entertainment does end up buying the film, we are looking at a 2026 release.