2026 is filled with massive motion pictures, however only some of them can declare to be essential. These choose movies could possibly be seen to bear the load of a bigger business pattern, and their success or failure may impression future studio decision-making. In 2025, F1 changing into a world hit gave life to Apple’s experiment with theatrical distribution, whereas Sinners proved betting massive on an thrilling filmmaker’s authentic concept may nonetheless be good enterprise.
There are a couple of on this yr’s launch calendar that could possibly be singled out this manner, however a brand new one simply formally joined their ranks. Wildwood, the following movie from stop-motion studio Laika, was confirmed immediately to be releasing in US theaters on October 23, 2026. This caps off a prolonged seek for distribution that already pushed the film a yr; the primary title reveal teaser went public means again in August 2024. Regardless of earlier relationships with Focus Options and Annapurna, no giant distributors bit. Wildwood‘s huge American launch will come courtesy of Fathom Leisure, so much better recognized for short-run occasions and re-releases, whereas FilmNation will deal with worldwide gross sales.
It is a comeback alternative for Laika, which hasn’t launched a brand new characteristic since 2019’s Lacking Hyperlink, a significant box-office bomb. And it could possibly be stop-motion’s final likelihood to safe a spot in film theaters.
Wildwood’s October 2026 Launch May Save Cease-Movement Animation, Or Bury It
Unique animated movies have struggled in theaters post-pandemic. Disney and Pixar have damaged data with sequels, however their unfamiliar tasks have needed to claw their technique to success, and even when they make it, their field workplace ceiling is not what it was. Dreamworks’ The Wild Robotic, which made $334 million worldwide, is simply a hit story due to how a lot much less it value than typical studio animation. The 2020s have seen some notable stop-motion movies – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio even gained the Oscar for Finest Animated Characteristic – however they’ve all been streaming releases.
Netflix, particularly, appears to imagine within the medium, and it appears unlikely that they would not have proven curiosity in Wildwood whereas it was being shopped. However Laika clearly held out for theatrical, and when not one of the established gamers bit, they went an unconventional route. David Burke, Laika’s Chief Advertising and Operations Officer, referred to as the movie a “testomony to Laika strolling its personal path” and hailed this launch technique for “preserving Laika’s independence.” Travis Knight, Laika’s CEO and Wildwood‘s director, referred to as the film “a celebration of artistry over algorithms” and emphasised it was made “to be seen the best way motion pictures first captured our imaginations: found in the dead of night, on a giant display, with a room stuffed with fellow dreamers experiencing pleasure, silence, and surprise collectively.“
Laika’s pairing with Fathom would not come out of nowhere. They dealt with the latest re-releases of Coraline and ParaNorman, the previous of which made one other $52 million. Fathom Leisure CEO Ray Nutt has confirmed Wildwood will obtain “a full, nationwide U.S. theatrical launch of ‘Wildwood’ in line with that of the legacy Hollywood studios,” and if it really works, everybody concerned will appear to be geniuses.
But when it would not, Laika’s insistence on theatrical will harm extra than simply them. Each distributor that handed will really feel justified for having executed so, and Wildwood will develop into the go-to instance of what occurs once you insist on placing a “non-theatrical” stop-motion film in theaters in immediately’s panorama. For the corporate’s efforts within the medium to proceed, they’re going to probably have to discover a prepared streaming companion.
The stakes are excessive, however Wildwood was constructed as Laika’s comeback film, and the 2 latest re-releases hopefully helped construct anticipation for it. They’re clearly assured sufficient to wager all of it on this movie. Now it is as much as the animation business, and anybody who loves seeing stop-motion on the massive display, to indicate up in October.
- Director
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Travis Knight
- Writers
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Chris Butler, Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy