Don’t think because Laika founder Travis Knight moved over to live-action with Bumblebee and 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 the long-awaited 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 named Prue who ventures into the wilds of Portland, Oregon (Laika’s home turf) to find her missing brother who has been kidnapped by a murder of crows.
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 on October 23rd, after facing some delays. It took quite a while to find a distributor, likely due to Laika’s poor box office track record. But it has partnered up with Fathom Entertainment on the release, and my hope is that Laika has a hit on its hands.
