The Most Ambitious Fantasy Movie of 2026 Comes to Life in New Jaw-Dropping Look

It’s been a minute since viewers have taken in a new, hand-crafted world from the creators at Laika Studios. The stop-motion giant behind the dark fantasy classic Coraline hasn’t released a new feature in its signature style since Chris Butler‘s mythical adventure comedy Missing Link in 2019, which only made $26.6 million against a reported budget of $100 million. They did revisit one of the beloved stories with a new short film titled ParaNorman: The Thrifting last year, but even that was merely in support of its spooky predecessor rising from the grave for another run in theaters. However, the banner’s prolonged absence from theaters won’t last much longer.

October 23 will welcome audiences into Wildwood, the long-gestating adaptation of the children’s fantasy novel written and illustrated by husband and wife duo Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Laika first optioned the book for a stop-motion feature all the way back in 2011, but it wouldn’t be until ten years later that the studio actually began moving to bring the story to life at last. It follows headstrong teenage Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) on a desperate adventure to save her baby brother after he’s whisked away by a murder of crows. From her home in Portland, she joins her classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) on a quest into the woods to find a realm that is dangerously alive and on the brink of conflict, full of fantastical creatures and formidable adversaries alike. An official trailer was unveiled earlier this year, but Laika is now pulling back the curtain to show the painstaking work that took director Travis Knight and his studio so long to put this ambitious fantasy together.

Wildwood is a very vibrant film thanks to its forest setting, and as the video shows, every little detail, from the individual leaves to the moss on the tree trunks, was all done by hand. Individual team members spend time assembling carpets of green grass and weeds or leafy plants, often stepping into the artificial Wildwood themselves to get the smallest aspects just right. Trees are pushed and pulled to imitate the wind, further making this feel like a living, breathing world. That same level of detail is dedicated to man-made or creature-made structures as well, from the streets of Portland to the Kingdom of Birds and the Ancient Grove, where each bit of ivy is strung along piece by piece. The characters narrate as wood, fabric, and more are transformed into the pieces of the world they describe, and each step of the process is shown. From concept art to lovingly-woven models and eventually a real world with real people, Wildwood‘s scale is breathtaking, positioning itself as Laika’s biggest project to date.

Wildwood hits theaters on October 23. Check out the new sneak peek in the player above.

Release Date

October 23, 2026

Director

Travis Knight

Writers

Chris Butler, Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy

Cast

• 

  Peyton Elizabeth Lee

  Prue McKeel (voice)

• 

• 

  Carey Mulligan

  Alexandra (voice)

•