After dazzling audiences with technical prowess not once, but five times, tracing back to 2009’s Coraline, Laika Studios will next take flight with Wildwood — and the trailer debut is off to a very strong start.
The 2.5-minute clip now stands as one of the biggest launches of all time for an animated film, collecting over 70 million views on YouTube and surpassing 100 million views across platforms in just two days. Four days later, it has brought in more than 87.2 million views on the video streaming website, and while still lagging behind Pixar/Disney’s heavyweights — the fourth-placed Incredibles 2 trailer landed 113.6 million views in 24 hours, followed by 2019’s Frozen 2 (116.4 million) — the reach is nothing short of impressive.
Directed by Travis Knight of Bumblebee fame, the upcoming stop-motion adventure is based on the 2011 fantasy novel by author Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis, following the adventures of two seventh-graders who discover a magical world hidden in the forest outside their home in Portland, Oregon. “After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness”, continues the synopsis.
Joined her loyal, if hapless, classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), the pair gets drawn into a conflict that threatens the balance of the forest itself while navigating a world teeming with sentient animals, magical creatures, and bandits, some of which can be seen in the gorgeous trailer, where the signature Coraline flavour makes for a familiar sight.
Alongside Lee and Tremblay, the star-studded cast includes Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Angela Bassett, and Mahershala Ali. Knight is also producing the film, with Masters of the Universe and Kubo and the Two Strings collaborator Chris Butler penning the script.
Wildwood marks Laika’s first stop-motion entry since 2019’s The Missing Link and comes after a string of five Oscar-nominated pics in a row: Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. It opens in theatres on 23 October.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
