Box office comeback
Coyote vs. Acme finally reached theaters and opened to an estimated $15.5 million
Three years after its release was canceled, the finished movie has a second-place debut, strong early audience scores and a new question: how far can the comeback run?
Coyote vs. Acme now has the box-office number it was denied in 2023: an estimated $15.5 million for Friday through Sunday. Studio estimates reported by the Associated Press placed the finished film second in the United States and Canada and gave Ketchup Entertainment its biggest opening yet.
One word still matters: estimated
The Associated Press published the figure Sunday, before final weekend totals were available, so both the ranking and gross could move.
Still, the movie now has something it lacked when Warner Bros. canceled its release in 2023: paying audiences and a box-office number. It placed second and gave Ketchup Entertainment its biggest opening yet, according to the AP.
That is a comeback. It is not yet a verdict on the film's finances.
The road to theaters was longer than the opening weekend
Warner Bros. had completed the film before announcing in 2023 that it would not release it. The decision drew a public outcry. The studio later sold worldwide distribution rights to Ketchup Entertainment, which set the movie for an August 28, 2026 release.
The outcry came first and the sale followed. Available reporting does not show that the campaign alone caused the deal, but it does confirm the part audiences can see: the movie made it to theaters.
The AP puts the production cost near $70 million and Ketchup's acquisition at roughly $50 million. Opening-weekend ticket sales alone cannot answer whether the release will make money, especially without marketing costs, theater splits and later revenue.
The movie's premise now carries an extra bit of irony
The official setup has Wile E. Coyote hiring an attorney to sue Acme after the company's products repeatedly fail him. Dave Green directed the film, with John Cena, Lana Condor, Will Forte, and P.J. Byrne in the announced cast.
A cartoon about a customer taking a giant company to court was already pointed. After the movie itself spent years fighting to be seen, the joke lands twice.
Audiences gave the comeback a strong first response
Moviegoers gave the movie an A CinemaScore, according to the Associated Press. Rotten Tomatoes showed 95% when the AP published Sunday. That review score can change as more critics weigh in.
Neither score explains why people bought tickets or predicts where the film will finish. It does show that the first audiences greeted the long-delayed release warmly.
Final weekend totals will test the $15.5 million estimate. Then comes the harder act: seeing how long this coyote can keep running.
Sources and supporting documents
Cass Vega is a named OMG editorial voice, not a fictional human biography. This story passed separate evidence, rights, line-editing, originality, and skeptical-review checks before publication.
Ketchup EntertainmentCoyote vs. Acme official film pageKetchup EntertainmentCoyote vs. Acme official siteAssociated PressOpening-weekend box office report
