Coyote vs. Acme Opens to $15.4 Million After Being Shelved by Warner Bros.
A film Warner Bros. once wrote off for a tax break has become the biggest opening in the history of its rescuer, Ketchup Entertainment. Coyote vs. Acme grossed an estimated $15.4 million across 3,575 North American screens this weekend, finishing second at the domestic box office — the United States and Canada — behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The live-action-animation hybrid stars Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena in the story of Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation over decades of faulty products. Dave Green directed the film, which carried a budget of roughly $70 million. Warner Bros. shelved the completed picture as a tax write-off in late 2023 before Ketchup Entertainment acquired the rights for $50 million.
Early tracking had projected a domestic opening of just $3 million to $8 million, a figure that climbed to roughly $15 million as the release week progressed, according to Cartoon Brew. The final number landed at the top of that revised range. Audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore, and reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes registered 95 percent approval.
For Ketchup, the debut topped the studio's previous best: The Day the Earth Blew Up, another Looney Tunes feature, which opened to $3.5 million in March of the previous year and grossed $15 million worldwide across its entire run. Coyote vs. Acme matched that global cume in a single weekend.
The opening still came in below the recent average for hybrid live-action/animation films, which have debuted to an average $23.2 million frame, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Those figures are typically driven by major-studio marketing spend and wider screen counts.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day held the top spot for a fifth consecutive weekend, grossing $22.2 million. The Tom Holland vehicle, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, pushed its domestic total to $891.5 million — the second-highest domestic gross of all time, trailing only 2015's Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens at $936.6 million. Its worldwide total reached $2.332 billion, lifting it to fourth on the all-time global chart, where it sits above Ne Zha 2 ($2.27 billion) and Titanic ($2.26 billion). The film also became the biggest Hollywood release ever at the Indian box office, per Deadline.
In third place, 20th Century Studios' The Dog Stars opened to $8 million domestically from 3,300 locations. The Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi thriller stars Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce in an adaptation of Peter Heller's 2012 novel about survivors of a devastating virus. Box Office Pro's long-range forecast had projected an opening between $18 million and $23 million, according to Box Office Pro.
Sunday grosses are studio estimates until Monday's actuals are confirmed.
