'Coyote vs. Acme' Crossed $100M — the Movie Warner Bros. Tried to Delete

The movie Hollywood tried to delete just hit $100 million. Coyote vs. Acme, the live-action and animation hybrid starring the Looney Tunes, has crossed $100 million at the worldwide box office, according to Cartoon Brew — a milestone that would be impressive for any family film and is downright astonishing for one that was nearly thrown away.

The backstory is by now the stuff of industry legend. In 2023, Warner Bros. planned to shelve the completed film and take a $30 million tax write-off, effectively erasing it from existence. The backlash was fierce, and distributor Ketchup Entertainment stepped in, paying $50 million for the rights to release it. The bet has paid off handsomely: the film has out-earned five of Warner Bros.' eight 2026 releases at the domestic box office, hit video-on-demand on September 29, and now qualifies for consideration in the animated feature Oscar race.

The Shelving That Backfired

Let's be clear about what almost happened here. A major studio finished a movie, looked at it, and decided it was worth more dead than alive — a $30 million accounting maneuver instead of a theatrical release. It was one of the ugliest episodes in recent studio history, and it turned Coyote vs. Acme from a mid-budget family film into a cause. Every dollar it has earned since has carried a little extra weight: proof that the people who make and watch movies can still beat the people who only count them.

Ketchup Entertainment's $50 million acquisition now looks like one of the savviest deals in recent memory. They bought a finished, release-ready film with beloved characters and a built-in audience, and they've now doubled that investment in worldwide grosses alone — before home video and streaming revenues are counted.

A Blueprint for the Rescued Film

The $100 million milestone matters beyond this one movie. Hollywood has developed a habit of treating finished films as disposable assets, and Coyote vs. Acme is now the definitive counterexample — the film that proves a shelved movie can become a hit if someone simply believes in it enough to release it. Its Oscar eligibility for the animated feature category adds another layer of vindication; the Academy could end up honoring a film its own studio tried to bury.

For audiences, the lesson is simpler: go see the movie the studio didn't want you to see. A hundred million dollars' worth of people already have.