After Wildwood, Laika's slate includes Piranesi and The Night Gardener

The newest stop-motion film from Laika is now in theaters, and the studio already has two more projects lined up for the same director. Wildwood reached theaters in the UK and US on October 23, a day after it opened in Australia, The Guardian reported.

Travis Knight, Laika's president and CEO, directed Wildwood. He is also attached to direct a stop-motion version of Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi and The Night Gardener, a neo-noir folktale written by Ozark creator Bill Dubuque.

Key facts

• Wildwood is the sixth animated feature from Laika.
• Fathom Entertainment is distributing Wildwood in the U.S., while FilmNation Entertainment handles international sales.
• Laika announced its Piranesi adaptation in June 2024, with Knight attached to direct.
• Dave Kajganich is writing the Piranesi script.
• Bill Dubuque wrote The Night Gardener, which Knight is also set to direct.

About the new Laika film Wildwood

The film adapts Colin Meloy's novels, with Knight directing from a script by Chris Butler. Its voice cast features Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett and Awkwafina.

The story is set in a real city. In present-day Portland, Oregon, 12-year-old Prue, voiced by Lee, follows a flock of crows that snatch her baby brother Mac and carry him into a hidden forest world, according to The Guardian.

Mulligan plays the villain, a dowager governess who leads an army of coyotes, and Ali voices Brendan, the leader of a band of outlaws.

Knight has spoken about the scale of the project. He described Wildwood as the largest and most personal world Laika has built. He also said, "Our movie is a celebration of artistry over algorithms".

The film played at the London film festival before its release. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian found it an engaging family film, though he said that outside its opening sequence it lacks the scare factor of Coraline.

Background

Laika's run of features started with Coraline in 2009, followed by ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link. Wildwood joins that list as the sixth.

The studio has also moved beyond animation. Laika opened a live-action division in 2023, with projects tied to filmmakers such as Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Lulu Wang and Jon Spaihts, Variety reported.

Piranesi

Laika first revealed its plan to adapt Clarke's Piranesi in June 2024, Deadline reported. A year later, Deadline reported that the studio had brought on Kajganich, the writer behind Suspiria and Bones and All, to pen the script.

The book comes with a large readership. Clarke's novel has sold over four million copies and took the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021.

The Night Gardener

The Hollywood Reporter reported in 2022 that Knight would direct The Night Gardener from a script by Dubuque. The story is pitched as a gritty neo-noir folktale about a young man in rural Missouri fighting to hold his family together after a tragedy.

What it means for you

Families looking for a stop-motion film this season can find Wildwood in theaters now in the U.S., UK and Australia. Fans of Clarke's novel have a screen version in the works, though it has no release date yet.

What happens next

Knight now has a full slate ahead of him. After directing Wildwood from Chris Butler's script, he is lined up for Piranesi, based on Clarke's prize-winning book, and for The Night Gardener, set in rural Missouri. Both projects are planned as stop-motion features, the format Laika has used since Coraline.

Laika's live-action work continues on a separate track. That division, launched in 2023, has projects with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Lulu Wang and Jon Spaihts.

No release dates have been announced for Piranesi or The Night Gardener in the sources reviewed. Both films list Knight as director, according to reports on each project.

FAQ

When did Wildwood come out? On October 23 in the U.S. and UK, and a day earlier in Australia.

Who directs Piranesi? Travis Knight is attached to direct.

Who wrote The Night Gardener? Ozark creator Bill Dubuque.

Is there a release date for Piranesi? No date has been announced in the sources reviewed.

How many features has Laika made? Wildwood is its sixth.