Development began in September 2011, just weeks after the release of Meloy's novel, when Laika announced plans to adapt Wildwood as an animated feature. Production was confirmed in September 2021, with Knight directing and co-producing with Arianne Sutner, and Butler writing the script. Most of the cast was revealed in August 2022. Production took place at Laika's facility studio in Hillsboro, Oregon, with Caleb Deschanel serving as the cinematographer. With a theatrical runtime of 132 minutes, Wildwood is the longest stop-motion-animated film by run-time.
Wildwood had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11, 2026, and was released in the United States by Fathom Entertainment on October 23, 2026. It is Laika's first film to receive a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association. The film received widespread acclaim from critics, with many calling it the studio's magnum opus. It has grossed $21 million at the box office, with a $100 million budget.
Plot
Portland teenager Prue McKeel defies her parents' instructions and takes her baby brother Mac outside to play. While at a park with Prue's classmate Curtis Mehlberg, Mac is abducted by a murder of crows, which Prue and Curtis pursue into the Impassable Wilderness on the edge of town. In the woods, the two are pursued by anthropomorphic coyotes, led by Maksim, and Curtis distracts them to allow Prue to escape. He is brought before their leader, the dowager governess Alexandra, who explains that she is at war with bandits over control of the Impassable Wilderness—known to its natives as Wildwood—and captures and imprisons some of them, including their leader Brendan, in the aftermath of a skirmish. A rat named Septima cautions Curtis not to trust Alexandra.
Prue is picked up by Richard, Wildwood's postmaster general, who takes her to the governor's mansion in South Wood. Along the way, they encounter the General, a colossal golden eagle. At the Mansion, the governor reveals that the woods are closed off to outsiders and imprisons Prue to hide her arrival. After receiving a message from Owl Rex, prince of the Avian Principality, Prue manages to escape and meets with him.
Owl Rex relays Alexandra's tragic past. Her beloved son Alexei had died in the wilderness, but his body was never found. The former governor died of grief. Using black magic, Alexandra placed Alexei's soul into a new mechanical body only for Alexei to commit suicide upon discovering the truth behind his existence, leading to Alexandra's arrest for witchcraft and eventual exile.
Curtis finds Mac in the Coyote Warren and is subsequently imprisoned with the bandits. As he is arrested, Owl Rex has the General fly Prue to the enigmatic mystic, Iphigenia, in North Wood. They are intercepted en route by Maksim, resulting in the General's death and Prue's capture. When Alexandra's attempts to divert Prue's suspicions fail, she convinces Prue that Mac has died. A devastated Prue returns home, where her parents reveal that they struggled with infertility, and thus enlisted Alexandra to help them conceive their first child through magic—in exchange, they promised Alexandra their second-born child. This magic granted Prue the ability to cross into Wildwood, unbeknownst to anyone. Realizing that Alexandra lied and Mac is still alive, Prue sneaks back into the woods to find Iphigenia.
Alexandra prepares to march on the bandits' ancestral land, where she intends to sacrifice Mac on an altar to locate Alexei's body so she can revive him; however, the woods' inhabitants know she will lose control of its power, destroying their world. Septima frees Curtis, who helps Brendan and the other bandits escape with him. Meanwhile, Iphigenia, the mystics, and the people of North Wood prepare for war. Prue negotiates an alliance between the two armies.
On the battlefield, Alexandra's army is pincered and crushed by the combined forces, though Brendan is wounded and Septima dies protecting Curtis. Maksim attempts to maul Prue but is killed by Curtis, allowing Prue to reach the altar. Iphigenia and Prue attempt to reason with Alexandra, but she refuses to listen. Prue's hand is cut in the struggle; absorbing her magic-infused blood, the ivy is made to obey her commands, causing a botanical tornado that saves Mac. An enraged Alexandra attempts to sacrifice Prue instead, but is fatally impaled by the ivy before Prue calms the storm. In the aftermath, Brendan and the bandits take control of South Wood and free its prisoners, allowing the wilderness to rebuild in peace. Prue and Curtis return home with Mac, where Prue makes peace with her parents and, though haunted by the losses of her journey, begins to come to terms with the complexities of adulthood. Prue later plays with Mac, who is now allowed to go outside.
Production
In September 2011, a week after the release of the book Wildwood, Laika optioned the novel for a stop-motion animated feature film, after producing the trailer for the book.
The film quietly began shooting in May 2021, before being announced. Production took place at Laika's facility studio just outside Portland, Oregon, and is the first film set in its hometown. Voice recording also privately occurred in 2021.
Then, in September 2021, Laika announced their next film would be Wildwood, with Travis Knight set to direct, Arianne Sutner to produce, and Chris Butler writing the screenplay for the film. In 2024, Knight revealed the project was the most ambitious film that Laika had ever made: "We've had to build up the creative tools, the technology and our storytelling muscles to do this book justice." Examples of unique challenges included staging epic battles, aerial sequences, and crafting the eagle character. The animation of the eagle was primarily done by Dobin Yanez over the course of four years.
The production features 136 sets and 231 practical puppets. In addition to facial components, 3D printing was employed to create armatures, puppet musculature, and simulated water, with VFX providing additional touch-ups. Due to the complexity with which the crows were going to be utilized, they were created digitally from scans of hand-sculpted models of various crow elements such as feathers, beaks, eyes, and feet. Facial animation was created digitally and then 3D printed and finally added frame by frame to the puppets with as many as 24 printed faces per puppet per one second of film.
Casting
In August 2022, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant were announced as part of the voice cast of the film. The rest of the cast was not revealed until May 2026.
Music
In May 2022, Dario Marianelli was announced to compose the film's musical score. It is his third score for a Laika film, following The Boxtrolls (2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), and his third collaboration with Knight, following Kubo and Bumblebee (2018). The score soundtrack was released on October 23, 2026, with a new song provided by The Decemberists.
A soundtrack inspired by the film, Wildwood Sessions, was released on October 16, 2026, consisting of 13 tracks from Still Woozy, Saya Gray, Omari Jazz, Bocha, Donte Thomas, Amine, Portugal. The Man, Ringdown, Quickly, Quickly, New Constellations, Three for Silver, Ryan Oxford, Rachel Fannan, and The Decemberists.
Release
Wildwood had its world premiere at the 70th BFI London Film Festival on October 11, 2026. It was also programmed at the 24th Alice nella Città festival in Rome and the 59th Sitges Film Festival.
In January 2026, Laika announced that it would be partnering with Fathom Entertainment on the domestic release of Wildwood, and FilmNation Entertainment for handling international sales. The film was theatrically released in the United States on October 23, 2026. Beta Fiction Spain secured Spanish theatrical distribution. Black Bear Pictures will handle theatrical distribution in the United Kingdom. VVS Films will handle theatrical distribution in Canada.
The film is Laika's first to receive a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, as well as a 12A rating (for theatrical exhibition) from the British Board of Film Classification.
Marketing
A title reveal was shown before 15th anniversary showings of Coraline (2009), and a three-minute behind-the-scenes video was shown before 13th anniversary showings of ParaNorman (2012). A book detailing the making of the film was released on March 10, 2026. An art installation, Wildwood: Follow the Crows, was installed in Portland, Oregon, on August 7, 2026. Similar to the 2024 installation Coraline's Curious Cat Trail, Wildwood: Follow the Crows is a collaboration between Laika, Oregon Health and Science University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Wild in Art, the Portland Metro Chamber, and Downtown Portland Clean and Safe, and is supported by the Visit Downtown Campaign. An official teaser trailer was released on May 13, 2026, and a new full-length trailer for the film was released on August 19, 2026. It had 179 million views on both trailers altogether, becoming the biggest trailers launch ever for a fully stop-motion–animated film. The final trailer was released on September 16, 2026.
Reception
Box office
As of October 25, 2026, Wildwood has grossed $12 million in the United States and Canada, and $3 million in other territories, for a total of $15 million worldwide.
In the United States and Canada, Wildwood was released alongside Klara and the Sun, Clayface, Wicker, and Ali G: Who Iz I?, and was projected to gross $6–8 million from 2,817 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up overperforming, debuting to $12.3 million and finishing in third behind Clayface and holdover You Can See Everything.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 99% of 148 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A marvelous technical achievement that packs an emotional wallop, Wildwood reaffirms the value of a thoughtful fantasy tale told straight while dazzling the eye with its innovative and painstaking stop-motion wizardry." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 88 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
In a five-star review, Gavin Spoors of FilmHounds declared the film Laika's magnum opus as well as "a cinematic achievement that we won't soon see the likes of again". John Nugent wrote a five-star review in Empire, saying that "It is the nuanced, lovingly studied character animation that marks Wildwood as a step-up." Nugent said that the film "stretches the bounds of what cinematic stop-motion can be".
Brian Tallerico from RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half stars, saying "the stop-motion animation's attention to detail is strikingly beautiful, from the character designs and settings to how accurately Knight and his team capture both the beauty and the oddity of the Pacific Northwest."
Future
Following the release of the film, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of the original book respectively, along with Knight and Lee, expressed interest in adapting the novel's two sequels, Under Wildwood and Wildwood Imperium, with Meloy believing "a lot of it depends on how much this one probably resonates with audiences".
External links
Official website
Wildwood at IMDb
