Travis Knight, Laika founder and director of Masters of the Universe, is hoping that his second film of 2026 fares a lot better than that expensive bust did. Wildwood is Knight’s long-awaited return to stop-motion animation, his first since 2016’s incredible Kubo and the Two Strings. The buzz surrounding this one is through the roof, but then, Laika films have never had a problem being critical darlings. It’s attracting audiences that has always been the issue.
A new trailer has been released and it is absolutely gorgeous, promising a breathtaking epic through the fantastical wilds of Portland, Oregon. The film is based on the first book in a trilogy of YA fantasy novels by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, and centers on Prue, who ventures into a magical forest to track the murder of crows that kidnapped her brother.
Laika picked up the rights to Wildwood back in 2011, shortly after the book was published. Development didn’t actually begin until a decade later, with Knight calling it the most ambitious project they’ve ever undertaken. That’s saying a lot.
The film clocks in at 139 minutes, the most ever for an English-language animated movie, tying Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Will parents want to take their kids to this, especially if it has a PG-13 rating as many expect?
Wildwood hits theaters on October 23rd and features the voices of Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and Jacob Tremblay, with Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jermaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.
