If initial plans had held up, the world would have just celebrated a year of release for Coyote vs. Acme. Sadly, that never happened, as all plans for release have been scrapped for the moment. However, the 2024 movie schedule still carries hope for Looney Tunes fans wanting to head to the movies. While there’s still no clear fate for Coyote vs. Acme, the domestic distribution rights to The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie have been freshly secured!
This news comes from a press release from the newly-revealed domestic distributor for the project, Ketchup Entertainment. It’s certainly a hopeful sign for the picture’s fate, as The Day The Earth Blew Up’s theatrical status has been in another uncomfortable limbo when it came to US audiences. The big bright side is that we’re much closer to seeing this potential laugh riot unfold theatrically than we are Coyote vs. Acme.
Unfortunately ,this good news doesn’t come with a release date or an intended release window specified. However, there is quite a bit of excitement about the film’s acquisition, as seen in this quote from Ketchup Entertainment CEO Gareth West:
The Day The Earth Blew Up is an historical moment for the Looney Tunes franchise, and we are proud to be partnering with Warner Bros. Animation to bring this film to audiences theatrically. We cannot wait for audiences of all ages to experience one of the smartest animated films in recent years.
What’s particularly troubling about this supposedly good news is that this Looney Tunes project, originally slated to be a streaming Max original, has already been seen in some markets. Not only did this picture premiere at this summer’s Annecy Film Festival, it’s actually just begun theatrical showings in Germany and Switzerland. With that in mind, piracy is a factor that should be kept in mind, as who knows if copies of The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie haven’t already cropped up?
Knowing the history of these Warner Bros. creations, and how they’re ingrained in the American pop culture landscape, kind of makes that fact a bit weird, epecially in the face of the much maligned Space Jam: A New Legacy being a product that was deemed worthy of cinematic and streaming release. So naturally, this is the part in our story where I start to have flashbacks to those dark days where Batgirl and other projects were deemed “unreleaseable” on the Warner Bros. docket, and either sold or shelved.
However, I don’t doubt the quality of the movie, as I’ve been following this story for quite some time. At the very least, long enough to catch this clip that The Day The Earth Blew Up voice actor Eric Bauza shared, in a finished and colored state:
That clip from The Day The Earth Blew Up is classic Daffy and Porky antics, right down to Mr. Bauza voicing both characters to a tee. While I’m still eager to see a trailer, I love how this clip is essentially a classic Looney Tunes gag that shows the comedy stylings of this major brand haven’t dimmed at all. Seeing this short glimpse into what we might see in the near future also continues to speak volumes for the quality of Coyote vs. Acme.
Which leads me to one more hopeful scenario, and yes, I do indeed dare to hope after learning this blissfully looney news. Should Daffy and Porky’s antics do well enough, perhaps Ketchup Entertainment will decide to try and acquire its unreleased sibling as a result. Between MeTV picking up some of the slack left after the demise of Boomerang and this very announcement, perhaps we shouldn’t be saying “That’s All Folks” for Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of these cultural institutions known as the Looney Tunes.
For the moment, you can enjoy quite a bit of the Looney Tunes catalog through the world of streaming. Your Max subscription will give you access to a lot of the classics, as well as some of the newer efforts that have floated around for some time. As soon as we have a release date on The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, we’ll happily report back with that news.