Coyote vs.ACME trailer plays like a hate letter to Warner Bros

Of course you know, this means war

The Coyote vs. ACME trailer has dropped and it is glorious. It opens with Wile E. Coyote putting on a pair of ACME rocket skates to catch the approaching Road Runner, only for the skates to explode just like in the classic Chuck Jones Looney Tunes shorts. From there, clips of the movie reveal Will Forte as a small-time lawyer who specializes in settling cases against the mega corporation that is ACME. His newest client is Wile E. Coyote, and together, they're looking for far more than a small settlement— they're aiming to take the ACME down.

Full of Looney Tunes characters and classic Looney Tunes-style gags, the trailer is everything you'd want. And, best of all, it contains a number of jokes that take direct aim at the company that made the film, canceled it, then eventually sold it off, making clear that ACME is the stand-in for Warner Bros.

Directed by Dave Green and based on a satirical New Yorker article by Ian Frazier, Coyote vs. ACME was first announced as a film way back in 2018. The movie eventually lost its original director (​Chris McKay) and its original screenwriters, Jon and Josh Silberman​​​​, who were replaced by Samy Burch. Still, it was nothing out of the ordinary for a big studio movie like this. Filming began in early 2022, for an expected release date of July 21, 2023. However, in April, 2022, the movie was removed from WB's schedule of releases, but there was still no major cause for alarm until November 2023, when WB announced that, despite the film being completed, the company would not be releasing it. Instead, Warner Bros. Discovery would be taking a $30 million tax write-off for the $70 million production, cutting their losses without ever giving the movie a chance.

Fans of Looney Tunes immediately revolted, especially against Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. The reaction was so swift that the company reversed its decision, but not really. It was announced that Coyote vs. ACME would be shopped around to other studios, but eventually the news came out that the company had rejected bids from the likes of Amazon, Netflix, and others, as Warner Bros. Discovery refused to take less than $75 million for the project.

For well over a year, the film remained in limbo, still technically for sale, but effectively canceled. Fans continued their online revolt, which included petitions and someone in a Wile E. Coyote costume who picketed the studio. Those involved in the film protested as well, with Forte publicly expressing his frustration about the cancellation several times. Voice actor Eric Bauza, who voices 10 characters in the film, also went off-script at the Annie Awards, improvising a moment as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck where he demanded the film's release.

Finally, in March 2025, the news broke that Ketchup Entertainment, the same company that had released 2024's The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, had acquired the rights to Coyote vs. ACME for $50 million. Now, the film's release will soon be upon us, with a scheduled release for Aug. 28, 2026.

But with all the drama that it took to get here, it's not as though the people behind it are about to let sleeping barnyard dogs lie, which is why the first trailer has a number of not-so-subtle anti-WB jokes.

The first jab comes right at the beginning, after Wile E. Coyote's rocket skates explode. The trailer cuts to the WB title card, then it zooms into some fine print that says WB is a "wholly owned subsidiary of the ACME Corporation." In other words, ACME is Warner Bros.

The trailer also refers to this as "The movie ACME doesn't want you to see" (which was certainly true of Warner Bros. for more than a year). At the end, a disclaimer appears at the end, read quickly by Foghorn Leghorn, who appears to be playing the head of the ACME corporation in the film. The disclaimer says, "The ACME corporation is releasing this film for accounting purposes only. We do not condone any of the storylines depicted."

All of those jokes are pretty deliberately pointed at Warner Bros. Discovery and all the drama that it took to get Coyote vs. ACME into theaters, but there's one more clip in the middle that also seems to take on extra meaning. At one point, Forte says of ACME, "These companies think they can do whatever they want! We're sick of it!" Even if this scene was filmed before the cancellation, it takes on extra meaning after the fact, which will be true for the entire film once it finally hits theaters this summer.

Coyote vs. ACME will be released in theaters on Aug. 28, 2026.