While animation studios are going through their various ups and downs of the past few years, one of them is chugging along on their next big feature. Earlier this week, Empire visited Laika’s headquarters and spoke with them about their upcoming film,Wildwood.Empirehas confirmed that the film is set for release sometime in 2025, and it’s going to push the boundaries of stop motion animation in all new ways for the team.
Wildwoodis directed by CEOTravis Knight, and is based on the novel by Colin Meloy. The film follows Prue McKeel as she stumbles across a strange forest of magic. The film also features an enormous battle sequence, which will be a first for the studio to tackle. Knight elaborates with Empire about the production.
“It’s the single most difficult thing we’re tackling on this movie. We’re starting to chip away and tentatively stepping into, like, ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God, how are we gonna do this?’ But I think it’s going to work. And you’ll tell me when the film’s all done if it did. Stop-motion films tend to look like they’re shot on a table-top, because they are. Moving a physical object a frame at a time and trying to give it life, that’s its own challenge. And then you bring all the kineticism you would have in a live-action action movie… It’s so hard.”
This isn’t the first time Laika has pursued new grounds for stop motion animation. 2016’sKubo and the Two Stringsfeatured an enormous 16 foot, 400 pound puppet skeleton monster. The studio sat down with Insider on the difficulties of working with such a massive puppet, the video can be found below.
Laika Continues To Break New Grounds
As Laika pushes onward with their next stop motion film, the studio is also stepping into new territory, live action film! Announced in March 2021, Laika will be adapting John Bronlow’s thriller novel,Seventeen, to the silver screen. Brownlow shared his excitement withDeadline.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be developingSeventeenfor the screen with Laika. As a longtime fan of Laika’s movies for their vision, heart, craft, intelligence and ambition, I couldn’t have hoped for the novel or the universe it inhabits to have found a better or more exciting home. I’m beyond honored to be part of their plans for the future.”
If you’re familiar withCoraline,ParaNorman,The Boxtrolls, orKubo and the Two Strings, then you’re also familiar with Laika. The studio has been the subject of high critical acclaim for their bold and memorable stop motion features. Their last film, 2019’sMissing Link, was nominated for Best Animation Feature Film at the Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. Meanwhile, Knight is both the president and CEO of the company, and also features an impressive directing history. His directing credits include Kubo, and 2018’sBumblebee.
Also on Laika’s slate is The Night Gardener, which is described as a “neo-noir folk tale.” The film is set to be scripted by Bill Dubuque (Ozark) and made for a much more mature audience. Knight comments on the film’s different direction with Empire.
“This film is not a family film, at all. There’s never been a film made like this in our medium. And that really excites me. It’s a beautiful story, it scares me, and it’s going to be an extraordinary piece of cinema, I think. Or at least has the potential to be. So many puppets, so much potential. We can’t wait to see them come to life.”
