Live-Action Looney Tunes Film Earns $40 Million After Warner Bros. Shelved It
Warner Bros. Discovery initially shelved the live-action Looney Tunes movie "Coyote vs. Acme" as a tax write-off, but after a change of plans the film earned more than $40 million worldwide.
Warner Bros. Discovery had planned to place the live-action Looney Tunes film "Coyote vs. Acme" on the books as a $30 million tax write-off in November 2023. Following public criticism, the studio allowed the project to be sold to an outside distributor. Ketchup Entertainment purchased the rights for $50 million and released the movie on August 28.
Within a week of its theatrical debut, the film had generated $40.4 million worldwide, according to box-office data, surpassing the amount Warner Bros. originally intended to write off. The earnings break down to $34.4 million in the United States and $5.9 million in other markets.
The movie held up well over the Labor Day weekend, posting a 28.8% drop from its opening weekend and bringing in about $14.5 million from September 4-7, despite competition from "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." It rose to third place at the box office, trailing only those two titles.
Critics and audiences have responded positively, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 96% from critics and 95% from viewers. The film, directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch, follows Wile E. Coyote as he teams up with a billboard lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation for defective products.