Coyote vs. ACME

 

Dave Green: Coyote vs. ACME (US 2026). Paige Avery (Lana Condor), Kevin Avery (Will Forte), Buddy Crane (John Cena). Forefront: Wile E Coyote and Road Runner. Background: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Granny, Putte Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester.

Kojootti vs. ACME / Gråben vs. Acme.

    US 2026 Warner Bros. PC: Warner Animation Group, Troll Group Entertainment, Keylight Pictures. P: Chris DeFana, James Gunn.

    D: Dave Green. SC: Samy Burch. Story: James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Samy Burch. Inspired by: "Coyote v. Acme" by Ian Frazier (New Yorker, 19 Feb 1990). Cin: Brandon Tost. M: Steven Price. ED: Carsten Kurpanek.

    Cast: John Cena, Lana Condor, Will Forte. See full list below.

    Finnish voice actors: Tuukka Leppänen (Kevin Avery), Osku Ärilä (Buddy Crane), Emma Louhivuori (Paige Avery), Antti Pääkkönen (Väiski Vemmelsääri, Repe Sorsa), Markus Bäckman (Kukko Koppava), Juho Karppinen (Henry Heslop), Katja Aakkula (Mummi), Yannick Yamajako (Sal Maltese), Elias Salonen (Bill Pelicanos), Rauno Ahonen (Elmeri), Jenny Ye (Dottie Jones), Jere Ollinen (Tuomari Toppogrosso)

    104 minutes

    US premiere 28 Aug 2026 - distributed by: Ketchup Entertainment.

    Finnish premiere 18 Sep 2026 - distributed by: SF Film Finland Oy - Finnish / Swedish translation by Frej Grönholm / Richard S. 

    Viewed at Finnkino Tennispalatsi 12, 31 Oct 2026

AA: Coyote vs. ACME is a completely crazy feature-length animation building on characters and routines from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of beloved golden age Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1940s and the 1950s.

In the Road Runner cartoon shorts, Wile E. Coyote always tried to catch the bird speeding in the desert like a rocket. The coyote's ingenious trap devices, provided by a mail-order company called Acme Corporation, always failed spectacularly.

The coyote never learns from his mistakes. Now, after many decades, he hears for the first time about the Acme company's "Project Sisyphus": his devices were test inventions intentionally designed to malfunction.

The film develops into an incongruous courtroom drama, David vs. Goliath in which Wile E. Coyote is David, represented by another small-time player, the lawyer Kevin Avery. Their adversaries are formidable: the big league lawyer Buddy Crane and Mr. Arrogance himself, the unstoppable Foghorn Leghorn. The Coyote and his advocate lose the case, of course, but it is not the end...

A film on overdrive and an overflow of gags. All great. The original cartoons were 8 minutes long, and animation programmers know that it's not good to show too many of those in one screening, because more is not more.

Coyote vs. ACME is a witty satire. It is about the condition of justice in a world where Big Law and Big Business can crush anybody with the power of money, sidelining justice. Does justice even exist anymore? Apparently yes, because Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and now Big IT have met true resistance from those who have been abused.

Moreover, "the Wile E. Coyote moment", familiar from cartoon physics, has become a metaphor for the times, apparently first introduced by Paul Krugman in 2003. The Coyote runs off a cliff and continues to run, ignoring the canyon below. Only when he looks down, he falls.

We live like there is no tomorrow, afraid to take the look below. Biodiversity loss. The melting of glaciers. Climate change. Ecocatastrophe. The internet. The impermanence of everything digital. Crypto. AI. Israel. The Free World. The United States run by a very stable genius. NATO.

SYNOPSIS FROM IMDB: 

"In 1992, in a world where cartoon characters co-exist amongst humans, Acme Corporation scientist Dr. Lorre leaks a message to an unknown contact before being captured and imprisoned inside an Acme portable hole.

Thirty years later, Wile E. Coyote, tired of failing to catch the Road Runner, sees a television ad for Avery, Jones & Maltese, a personal injury law firm in Albuquerque specializing in cartoon violence cases involving Acme products. Wile E. meets with the senior partner Kevin Avery, looking to sue Acme for the various defective devices used in chasing the Road Runner. While Kevin's niece and intern Paige is eager to take Acme to court, Kevin prefers to settle to avoid a risky trial. However, Wile E. rejects the settlement offered by Acme's lawyer Buddy Crane, forcing a trial.

The firm tries to subpoena the Road Runner to testify, but he evades them. Meanwhile, Acme CEO Foghorn Leghorn warns Buddy to prevent the trial from revealing any corporate secrets. After a poor first trial session, Kevin receives a tip from an anonymous whistleblower to meet with former Acme employee Daffy Duck who conveys the warning Lorre sent him in 1992 about "Project Sisyphus". Kevin admits to Wile E. that he tries to settle all cases due to having lost multiple trials early in his career, but Wile E. encourages Kevin to believe he can beat Acme the same way Wile E. believes he will catch the Road Runner. Though this inspires Kevin, he soon discovers Wile E.'s motive for the lawsuit is to capture the Road Runner in court. Meanwhile, Paige learns from Lorre's wife Granny that before his disappearance Lorre did product development for Acme, who now force their pet Tweety to serve as Acme's mercenary.

The team discovers the whistleblower is Bugs Bunny, who reveals Project Sisyphus is a product testing program formerly headed by Dr. Lorre, using cartoon violence to improve Acme's products for humans. When the program drove its test subjects insane, Lorre tried to object, but was silenced, and Acme pivoted to testing in the wild on unsuspecting clients like Wile E. Off Bugs' suggestion, Kevin tries to get Project Sisyphus on the record by questioning Acme's Head of PR Tasmanian Devil on the stand, but Acme's legal team sabotage him and the judge dismisses the case. However, Kevin reveals the conspiracy to the press, prompting the government to call a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. Wile E. only agrees to join when Kevin claims the Road Runner will be there. The night before the hearing, Kevin admits the truth after being badgered about it and berates Wile E. for his obsession with the Road Runner, prompting Wile E. to storm out. While wandering the streets, Wile E. narrowly evades Tweety's attempt to kill him. Kevin tries to rescue him, but gets knocked out and separated.

Kevin rejects a last bribe attempt by Buddy and gives an impassioned speech at the hearing, admiring Wile E.'s determination despite repeated failures. Wile E. arrives, having overheard, and reconciles with Kevin. Kevin gets Foghorn to publicly admit to Project Sisyphus, but Foghorn argues that cartoons like Wile E. are not important enough for anyone to care if they are harmed. However, the Road Runner arrives and testifies to the harm Acme products have caused Wile E. over the years and further explains as Wile E.'s friend that he cares for and misses him, moving Wile E. to spare him. Senator Elmer Fudd declines to pursue federal charges due to Wile E. being the sole plaintiff. As Buddy and Foghorn gloat, Wile E. activates the machine trap he set up for the Road Runner to immaculately trap them both as revenge, humiliating the Acme team.

Back in Albuquerque, the firm is inundated with cartoons seeking to sue Acme for damages. Further leaks from Bugs launch a federal investigation that exposes the full extent of Project Sisyphus and leads to the arrests of Foghorn and Buddy. Dr. Lorre is freed and reunites with Granny and Tweety. Wile E. bids goodbye to Kevin and Paige, now a partner at the firm, before reuniting with the Road Runner and resuming their chase. A postscript states that Avery, Jones, Maltese & Avery won hundreds of cases. While still chasing Road Runner, Wile E. still visits Kevin when he's lonely and will maybe catch Road Runner some day."

Cast (en. Wikipedia)

Will Forte as Kevin Avery, a down-and-out billboard attorney and member of Avery, Jones & Maltese who becomes Wile E. Coyote's lawyer. He is named for Looney Tunes animator Tex Avery.

Lana Condor as Paige Avery, Kevin's niece and an intern at Avery, Jones & Maltese.

John Cena as Buddy Crane, the Acme Corporation's lawyer who was Kevin's rival at Harvard Law School.

Tone Bell as Sal Maltese, a partner of Kevin and Dottie at Avery, Jones & Maltese.

He is named for Looney Tunes screenwriter Michael Maltese, co-creator of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Martha Kelly as Dottie Jones, a partner of Kevin and Sal at Avery, Jones & Maltese. She is named for Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones, co-creator of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Luis Guzmán as Judge Troppogrosso, a strict and no-nonsense judge overseeing the trial between Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Corporation.

P. J. Byrne as Bill Pelicanos, an Acme Corporation lawyer.

John Early as Henry Heslop, a local Albuquerque television news anchor.

Nancy Linehan Charles as Cherry, the manager of the Prickly Pear motel where Kevin lives.

Kenneth Choi as Oscar Jeon, an Albuquerque lawyer.

Ernie Vigil as Talon, an Acme enforcer working with Tweety to silence Kevin and Wile E.

Voices (en.Wikipedia)

Eric Bauza as:

    Bugs Bunny, a whistleblower who assists the firm in learning about Project Sisyphus. Archival audio of Mel Blanc taken from The Ducksters is used for Bugs' screaming. Bugs Bunny's informant role is a reference to Deep Throat as portrayed in the film All the President's Men.

    Charlie Dog, a clerk at Avery, Jones & Maltese

    Daffy Duck, a former Acme test subject driven insane by Project Sisyphus and confined at St. Looney's Asylum

    Dr. Peter Lorre, an Acme corporation scientist

    Foghorn Leghorn, the crooked CEO of the Acme Corporation

    Gossamer, the process server at Avery, Jones & Maltese

    Pepé Le Pew, a flirtatious skunk who was one of Acme Labs' test subjects

    Porky Pig, an Albuquerque local and occasional client of Avery, Jones & Maltese

    Senator Elmer Fudd, the senatorial chairman of the congressional hearing

    The Road Runner, a key witness being sought for Wile E.'s trial. While Bauza voices the Road Runner when testifying before Congress, archival audio of background artist Paul Julian is used for the rest of his dialogue.

    Tweety, Granny and Dr. Lorre's pet bird who is forced to serve as a mercenary for the Acme Corporation in order to protect Granny after Dr. Lorre's imprisonment

Candi Milo as:

    Granny, Dr. Lorre's reclusive wife

    Witch Hazel, an employee at Avery, Jones & Maltese

    Miss Prissy, a hen serving on the jury at the trial

Jim Cummings as the Tasmanian Devil, the head of the Acme Corporation's Public Relations