This day has been a long time coming for Looney Tunes fans, but finally we can say that Coyote vs. Acme has hit the 2026 movie calendar. It wasn’t an easy road to get here (which is strangely fitting, given the titular character), but I’ve been checking out the reviews, and critics are saying this live action/animated hybrid was worth the wait. In fact, the family-friendly flick that stars John Cena, Will Forte and Lana Condor has already set one record with its Rotten Tomatoes score.
Coyote vs. Acme is premiering to a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer — making it the highest-rated Looney Tunes movie ever, beating 2024’s critically acclaimed The Day the Earth Blew Up, which got 86%. So what is it that critics are so worked up about? Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times says it would have been something of a tragedy for Coyote vs. Acme to have never seen the light of day, because it’s “one barrel of unhinged delights,” with some depth, to boot:
Coyote’s reason for being is to chase this Road Runner and get crushed or blown up. He would be nobody without that task. Coyote vs. Acme takes that idea and gently reapplies it, this time to the struggle of the little guy against the faceless, careless corporation. It’s clever and also accidentally resonant, not least because this movie itself feels like the underdog that somehow prevailed.
Coyote vs. Acme sees the long-suffering canine decide to sue the fictional corporation for all the defective devices they’ve sent him over the years in his pursuit of the Road Runner. Will Forte plays Kevin Avery, Wile E. Coyote’s attorney, while John Cena’s Buddy Crane represents Acme. Brian Vanhooker of Polygon not only says the movie was worth the wait, but he calls it the “best comedy of 2026,” writing:
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The first thing to love about Coyote vs. ACME is that it’s funny — like, really funny. The jokes in the film vary from big physical gags, background jokes, sharply-written one-liners, and Easter eggs for Looney Tunes fans. … Best of all, the movie doesn’t just feel like it’s recycling jokes from shorts done back in the 1940s. Yes, there are plenty of classic slapstick gags to satisfy fans of that kind of humor, but the story also feels relevant to 2026. While the movie is still the same version that completed post-production way back in 2023, its anti-corporate messages ironically now feel like a response to the film’s very unique journey.
Olly Richards of Empire rates this “work of unabashed chaotic comedy fun” 4 out of 5 stars, saying that in the case of Coyote vs. Acme, it’s the audience who wins big. Richards’ review says:
For any Looney Tunes nerd, it’s a real treat to search the screen for innumerable Easter eggs. It goes so deep into the archives that it may leave the less Looney-attuned occasionally confused, wondering why Peter Lorre is ‘playing’ a scientist or why there’s an old lady chicken on a jury. But that respect for the viewer and love for the Looney Tunes world is what makes this movie work so well.
Odie Henderson of the Boston Globe gives the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling Coyote vs. Acme “a superb piece of filmmaking, a loving tribute to the most hapless of all Looney Tunes characters and the many fans who love him.” Henderson continues:
Forte and Condor are both excellent, with Forte providing an unexpected level of sentiment. Cena is a fun villain, and Luis Guzmán shows up in a fun cameo. … Ketchup Entertainment, the company that made the entertaining Porky Pig-Daffy Duck animated feature The Day the Earth Blew Up, deserves credit for saving Coyote vs. Acme from the abyss. It’s one of the year’s best movies, and deserves to shame Warner Bros. by raking in boffo box office numbers.
Hoai-Tran Bui of Inverse also writes that Coyote vs. Acme was worth the wait. It’s “a triumph in every single way,” the critic says, praising how it’s not just smart, funny and earnest; it also pays homage to the Looney Tunes franchise that’s been entertaining audiences for nearly 100 years. Bui says:
It’s the great premise for a ton of gags (after all, what was Wile E. Coyote put on this Earth for but to suffer for our entertainment?), but Coyote vs. Acme takes its joke one step further and delivers the best live-action/animation hybrid film since 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It’s because, like Barbie before it, Coyote vs. Acme treats its world as seriously and earnestly as it does its gags. It’ll throw an anvil on Wile E. Coyote, but then make you feel a little bad about it. It’s a miracle of tonal balancing — and one that’ll make you laugh just as much as it will make you cry.
It will be interesting to see what Coyote vs. Acme does at this weekend’s Box Office and if it might possibly break more records there. Having the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Looney Tunes feature to date is a good start, though. If you want to check out this critically acclaimed film, you can do so now, as it hit theaters on Friday, August 28.