Don’t think because Laika founder Travis Knight moved over to live-action with Bumblebee and will again for Masters of the Universe that he’s somehow lost a love for stop-motion animation. Knight will direct his first animated movie since 2016’s incredible Kubo and the Two Strings with next year’s dark fantasy film, Wildwood, and an astonishing new teaser has been revealed for it.
Described as Laika’s most ambitious film yet, Wildwood features a stellar voice cast of Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Jacob Tremblay will lead the cast, joined by Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jermaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.
The film is based on the first book in a trilogy of YA fantasy novels by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, about a young girl who ventures into the wilds of Portland, Oregon (Laika’s home turf) to find her missing brother.
The footage we’ve got is gorgeous and spooky, showing off Laika’s incredible skill with stop-motion animation. They truly are the best at it, and have been working hard on this one since 2011.
Wildwood is expected to hit theaters in 2025. Currently, there’s no distributor, and that’s a bit concerning. Laika’s box office track record isn’t good. 2009’s Coraline remains their biggest film with $131M worldwide. 2019’s Missing Link was a huge flop, earning just $26M on a $100M budget. All of their films are critically acclaimed but it hasn’t translated into big money.
