John Cena’s Coyote vs. Acme has passed $44 million worldwide after a strong second weekend, three years after Warner Bros. shelved the finished film.
The Looney Tunes live-action and animation hybrid took in an estimated $14.5 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. That is a 29 percent drop from its opening weekend, and it finished third behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, both of which have been in theaters for more than a month. After 10 days, the movie stands at $37 million domestic and $44.2 million worldwide.
The opening weekend was $15.5 million on 3,575 screens, per Deadline, good for second place behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day at $22.2 million. Friday alone was $5.3 million. Tracking three weeks before release had the film in the high single digits, according to Gold Derby, before climbing toward $15 million in the final week.
The debut was the biggest in the history of distributor Ketchup Entertainment, roughly five times its previous best. That record belonged to The Day the Earth Blew Up, another Looney Tunes feature, which opened to about $3.5 million in March 2025 on its way to $15 million worldwide, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore. Critics have it at 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience score sits at 94 percent.
Cena plays Acme’s corporate lawyer, the company’s undefeated attorney, opposite Will Forte as the down-on-his-luck lawyer who takes Wile E. Coyote’s case against the company over decades of defective products. Lana Condor and Tone Bell co-star, and Eric Bauza voices the Coyote. Dave Green directed from a screenplay by Samy Burch, with a story by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater and Burch, based on Ian Frazier’s 1990 New Yorker piece “Coyote v. Acme.” The film is rated PG and runs 103 minutes.
Cena promoted the movie to his 83 million social media followers in the run-up to release. Audience conversation online centered on comparisons to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam, with Cena’s turn as the corporate villain drawing positive reactions.
Warner Bros. Discovery completed the film in 2023 and then shelved it, choosing to take a tax write-off rather than release it, the same approach it took with Batgirl. The decision drew immediate backlash from fans and filmmakers, including Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and the studio reversed course within days and agreed to shop the film. Ketchup Entertainment bought worldwide distribution rights in a deal that closed in early 2025.
Green marked the release on social media. “COYOTE VS. ACME is finally, gloriously, in theaters now. Which means one thing. WE WON.”
The film premiered at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25 before its wide release on August 28.
Cena wrestled his last match in December. His other recent film work includes the Peacemaker series for DC Studios and HBO Max.
Coyote vs. Acme is in theaters now.
