Wildwood (film)

Wildwood (film)

Wildwood is a 2026 American stop-motion animated epic fantasy film directed by Travis Knight and written by Chris Butler, based on the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Produced by Laika, the film stars Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Arthur Knight, Angela Bassett, and Mahershala Ali. In the film, a teenage girl named Prue (Lee) and her classmate Curtis (Tremblay) travel into an enchanted forest in search of her infant brother, Mac, after he is abducted. They find a manor and learn about a coming war from Alexandra (Mulligan), a mysterious woman who tragically lost her son.

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 131 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".

Plot

Wildwood (film)

Portland teenager Prue McKeel defies her parents' instructions and takes her baby brother Mac outside to play. Mac is subsequently abducted by a murder of crows, which Prue and her classmate Curtis pursue into the Impassable Wilderness on the edge of town. In the woods, the two are pursued by anthropomorphic coyotes, led by Maxim, and Curtis distracts them to allow Prue to escape. He is brought before their leader, the dowager governess Alexandra, who takes Curtis under her wing. She explains to him that she is at war with bandits over their ancestral land and captures and imprisons some of them, including their leader Brendan, in the aftermath of a skirmish. A rat named Septima warns Curtis not to trust her.

Prue makes her way to the governor's mansion, who reveals that the woods are closed off to outsiders and imprisons her to hide her arrival. She manages to escape and contact avian prince Owl Rex, who explains the governess' history: Alexandra's son Alexei had died in the wilderness, but his body could not be found, leading to the former governor's death by grief. Using the dark arts, Alexandra placed Alexei's soul into a new mechanical body, only for him to commit suicide once he found out, leading to her exile.

Curtis soon finds Mac in Alexandra's castle, realizing the crows brought the baby on her orders, and he is subsequently imprisoned with the bandits. Owl Rex sends Prue to visit the mystic Iphigenia, having a giant golden eagle named the General fly her there as he is arrested, but they're intercepted en route by Maxim, resulting in the General's death and Prue's capture. Alexandra attempts to divert Prue's suspicions away from herself, implying that Mac has been killed, but Prue sees through her deception, before Alexandra convinces her to return home. There, Prue's parents confide in her that they made a deal with Alexandra to conceive their first child through magic due to infertility, but in exchange they had to promise Alexandra their second-born child. This magic subsequently granted Prue the ability to cross into Wildwood unbeknownst to anyone. Realizing that 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 control the forest's ivy and find Alexei's body, allowing her to revive him once again; however, the woods' inhabitants know she would lose control of its power, destroying their world. Septima frees Curtis, who helps Brendan and the other imprisoned bandits escape with him, gaining their trust. Meanwhile, Iphigenia, the mystics, and their people 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. Maxim attempts to kill Prue but Curtis comes to her aide and kills him, allowing Prue to make it to the altar. Iphigenia and Prue attempt to reason with Alexandra but she refuses to let go of Alexei's death, and Prue's hand is cut in the struggle. Absorbing her magically infused blood, the ivy is made to obey her commands, sending the site into a botanical tornado that saves Mac. When an enraged Alexandra attempts to sacrifice Prue instead, she herself is killed by the ivy before Prue calms the storm.

In the aftermath, Brendan and the bandits take control of Wildwood and free everybody. Prue thanks Curtis and the three return home with Mac, who is now able to go outside freely.

Production

Wildwood (film)

Director Travis Knight in 2016.

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. No further development on the film was announced until in September 2021, when 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.

The film quietly began shooting in May 2021, before being announced that September. 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.

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, Len Cariou, 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 will be out 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 (film)

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

In the United States and Canada, Wildwood was released alongside Klara and the Sun, Clayface, Wicker, and Ali G: Who Iz I?, and is projected to gross $6–8 million from 2,000 theaters in its opening weekend.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 107 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10. 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 87 out of 100, based on 36 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".

Accolades

<table><thead><tr><th>Award</th><th>Date of ceremony</th><th>Category</th><th>Recipient(s)</th><th>Result</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Sitges Film Festival</td><td>October 18, 2026</td><td>Grand People's Choice Award for Best Feature film in the SOFC</td><td>Wildwood</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>