What’s in this guide
Seventeen years after Coraline, Laika is back in theaters, and it has not come back small. Wildwood is the studio’s sixth stop-motion feature, its longest, its darkest, and by early accounts its most ambitious: a fantasy war story about a girl, a stolen baby brother, and a forest empire hidden beyond Portland, Oregon. It opens in US theaters on October 23, 2026, and this guide covers everything confirmed: the release date, the official trailer, the all-star voice cast, the story, the early reviews, and where to watch it.
Wildwood Release Date
Wildwood opens in US theaters on Friday, October 23, 2026, released nationwide by Fathom Entertainment, with UK cinemas getting it the same day. The film has already been seen by festival audiences: it premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11, and it opens AFI Fest in Los Angeles on October 21, two nights before the wide release. Select screenings are playing in 4DX, D-Box and Dolby Cinema, and tickets went on sale when the final trailer landed in September.
A quick heads-up for families planning a trip: this is Laika’s first PG-13 film, and it runs 131 minutes, the longest stop-motion feature ever released. It is built as an event, and it asks more of younger viewers than a standard animated release. More on that below.
Wildwood Trailer
Laika’s official trailer sells the film the way the poster does, on craft and menace at the same time. Prue crosses into a forest that Portlanders are warned never to enter, the crows that took her brother fill the sky, and the scale keeps growing: talking animals, bandit camps, an eagle general, and armies moving through the trees. Watch it here:
What Is Wildwood About?
Prue McKeel is a headstrong Portland teenager whose baby brother, Mac, is snatched by a murder of crows and carried into the Impassable Wilderness, the forbidden forest on the edge of the city that locals are warned to stay out of. Prue goes in after him, with her well-meaning classmate Curtis Mehlberg trailing behind, and finds a hidden world that has been running its own politics for centuries: talking animals, forest bandits, an avian principality, and a power struggle turning into open war.
There are places you don’t go. One choice changes everything.
Two figures pull Prue in opposite directions. Alexandra, the Dowager Governess, is the exiled ruler whose grief and ambition drive the conflict, and Brendan, the Bandit King, leads the free creatures of the woods against her. Above them both circles The General, a great eagle trying to hold the forest together. What starts as a rescue becomes a fight for the future of Wildwood itself, and the film does not soften it: critics out of London noted real character deaths and battle sequences compared, in scale, to The Lord of the Rings. The film adapts the bestselling novel by Colin Meloy, frontman of The Decemberists, illustrated by Carson Ellis, the first book of the Wildwood Chronicles.
Laika’s Biggest Film Ever
Wildwood has been in development for 16 years, dating back to the completion of Coraline in 2009, and the production matches the wait. The crew built hundreds of sets and close to 250 practical puppets, produced some 142,000 individual 3D-printed elements, and filmed for more than three years to make the longest stop-motion feature ever released. It is also the studio’s first PG-13 release, a deliberate step into darker territory than Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, or Missing Link.
The gamble is landing with critics. The film debuted at the London Film Festival to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, one review called it the crowning achievement of Laika’s 20-year journey, and awards watchers already have it leading the Best Animated Feature odds, ahead of Pixar’s entry. That sets up quite a race, which our Toy Story 5 guide is tracking from the other side. Every previous Laika film was Oscar-nominated in the category; none has won. Wildwood is the studio’s loudest attempt to change that, and the poster’s tagline knows exactly what it is selling: “From the hands that made Coraline.”
Cast and Crew
Cast photos: Wikimedia Commons
The ensemble around the leads is stacked: Awkwafina, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg as the bandit leader Niamh, Jemaine Clement as Roger Swindon, Tom Waits as the coyote commander Maksim, Richard E. Grant as Owl Rex, the former Crown Prince of the Avian Principality, Tantoo Cardinal, and Jake Johnson with Maya Erskine as Prue’s gloriously unbothered hippie parents. Behind the camera, Laika president and CEO Travis Knight directs his first film since Kubo and the Two Strings, from a screenplay by Chris Butler (ParaNorman, Missing Link). Dario Marianelli, who scored The Boxtrolls and Kubo, returns for the music, Caleb Deschanel handles cinematography, and Arianne Sutner produces alongside Knight.
Where to Watch Wildwood
Wildwood is a theatrical release, and for now the cinema is the only place to see it. Fathom Entertainment is putting it on screens nationwide in the US from October 23, 2026, with UK cinemas opening the same day and FilmNation handling the wider international rollout. Given that every frame was built by hand at miniature scale, this is one animated film that genuinely rewards the biggest screen you can find, and the select 4DX, D-Box and Dolby Cinema showings are there for exactly that reason.
No streaming or digital release date has been announced yet. Laika’s films typically move to digital rental and purchase a few weeks after their theatrical run, with a subscription streaming home decided separately. We will update this guide the moment a streaming date is confirmed.
Wildwood FAQ
When does Wildwood come out?
October 23, 2026, in US theaters via Fathom Entertainment, with UK cinemas the same day. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11 and opens AFI Fest on October 21.
What is Wildwood based on?
The 2011 novel Wildwood by Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis, the first book in the Wildwood Chronicles trilogy. Meloy is best known as the frontman of The Decemberists.
Who is in the Wildwood voice cast?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Prue and Jacob Tremblay as Curtis, with Carey Mulligan as Alexandra, Mahershala Ali as Brendan the Bandit King, Angela Bassett as The General, plus Awkwafina, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Tom Waits and Richard E. Grant.
Is Wildwood okay for kids?
It is rated PG-13, a first for Laika, and festival reviews describe character deaths, on-screen battles and at least one genuinely intense scene. Think older kids and teens first rather than a Saturday-morning family pick; parents of younger children may want to see it themselves before deciding.
How long is Wildwood?
131 minutes, which makes it the longest stop-motion animated feature ever released.
Will Wildwood be on Netflix or streaming?
No streaming home or date has been announced yet. It opens exclusively in theaters on October 23, 2026, and a digital release is expected to follow the theatrical run. This guide will be updated when it is confirmed.
Is Wildwood connected to Coraline?
Only through the studio. Wildwood is a standalone story from Laika, the same studio and many of the same hands behind Coraline, which is why the poster carries the line “From the hands that made Coraline.” No shared characters or story.
Laika releases a film every few years, and each one arrives like an argument that handmade animation still matters. Wildwood is the biggest version of that argument the studio has ever made, and the early reviews suggest it might also be the best-received. We will update this guide with box office numbers and the streaming date as they land. If you are building an animation watchlist for the season, our Super Mario Galaxy Movie guide covers the other animated giant on the calendar.
