Some movies take years to make. Coyote vs. Acme took years to escape. Will Forte has now opened up about the bizarre journey of the completed Looney Tunes movie, which went from a highly tested Warner Bros. project to something the studio apparently wanted to bury, only to claw its way back toward the big screen.

And somehow, the movie’s real-life battle to survive has become almost as ridiculous as anything Wile E. Coyote goes through on screen.

While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Will Forte explained why Coyote vs. Acme spent so long trapped in Hollywood limbo. The actor said the movie had already been completed and was testing extremely well when Warner Bros. suddenly called with a very different idea for its future. According to Forte, the studio’s plan was essentially to release the movie nowhere, joking that it might as well go “into a garbage can.”

“We completed the movie. And it was testing really, really well. And then, at a certain point, we got a call from Warner Brothers that they had a new idea for the release of the movie, which was to not release it in theaters or not release it on streaming, but to release it into a garbage can." Forte told Jimmy Fallon.

Forte said the cast later attended what the filmmakers called a “funeral screening,” and he went in expecting the movie to be terrible because he could not understand why a completed, well-tested film would otherwise be thrown away. Instead, he was stunned by what he saw, calling it “so good” and “really great,” which made the situation even more frustrating and heartbreaking because he wanted to share the movie with his children. The film eventually became a real-life underdog story, with fans and supporters making enough noise to help push it back toward an audience.

‘Coyote vs. Acme’: Release Date, Cast, Where to Watch and Everything You Need to Know

And that strange journey makes even more sense when you see what was actually sitting inside the vault.

The movie follows Wile E. Coyote after years of disastrous encounters with Acme products finally push him past his breaking point. Instead of chasing the Road Runner for another round of explosions, missiles, and catastrophic gadgets, he decides to take Acme Corporation to court, teaming up with down-on-his-luck lawyer Kevin Avery, played by Forte. John Cena plays Buddy Crane, the powerful attorney representing Acme, while Lana Condor joins the cast as Paige Avery, with the film mixing live action and animation in a style inspired by Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The film reportedly cost around $70 million to $72 million to produce before Warner Bros. shelved it as part of a tax write-off strategy, triggering widespread backlash. Its fate finally changed when Ketchup Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights, giving the movie a second chance and setting it for a theatrical release on August 28, 2026. The timing could hardly be more fitting: a movie about an underdog fighting a giant corporation spent years fighting for its own survival, and after all those setbacks, Coyote vs. Acme finally gets to prove itself on the big screen.

What began as a completed Warner Bros. production that seemed destined for a vault eventually became a fan-fueled comeback story, with Will Forte and the filmmakers finally getting the chance to share it with audiences.

‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Debuts with Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Following Long Release Saga

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