Back in November of 2023, Warner Bros. announced it would not be distributing Coyote vs. Acme—despite the fact that it is a completely finished film.
The announcement came via an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter, who noted that the film—which cost an estimated $72 million to make—was officially being shelved despite having been finished nearly a year prior.
This revelation led to serious concerns among fans, given that this practice of making and then never releasing completed movies has become a worrying trend (with the shelving of Batgirl back in 2022 being another controversial decision).
In the time since the shelving announcement, many fans have rallied around the film and its filmmakers in hopes of changing the studio’s mind and getting the film released, though no major updates have occurred. However, today actor Will Forte, who stars in the film, opened up about the entire ordeal, taking to X to post a sequence of screenshots documenting his feelings on the decision:
The actor begins by writing “To the cast and crew of Coyote vs. Acme—I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s looking like you never will” before going on to express his fear that the film was being shelved because it must have been a “hunk of junk,” only to reveal that—after seeing the film for himself—it’s actually “incredible.”
“[The film is] super funny throughout, visually stunning, sweet, sincere, and emotionally resonant in a very earned way. As the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be a part of something so special. That quickly turned to confusion and frustration. This was the movie they’re not going to release?”
He continued, going further to voice his frustration over the decision, “Look, when it comes to Hollywood business stuff, I don’t know shit about shit. Even when a movie tests very well (like ours), there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna be a hit. And at the end of the day, the people who paid for this movie can obviously do whatever they want with it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it (I fucking hate it). Or agree with it. And it doesn’t mean that this movie is anything less than magnificent.”
Will ends his statement by simply saying, “You would be so proud of it—a movie that should be seen, but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication, and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame. That’s all folks, Will Forte.”
Fans of the actor (and those who are still fighting to see the film released) were quick to take to the replies on his tweet to voice their support, which included several people who’d worked on the film alongside him:
And of course, fans have been tweeting about their desire to see the movie since November’s news under much-used hashtags like #ReleaseCoyoteVsAcme and #SaveCoyoteVsAcme. Here are some of the best memes:
Whether the film will be released in any capacity in the future still remains to be seen, but the ground swell of support around it shows no signs of slowing down—no dissimilar to the wild (E) coyote it’s based on.