Seven years after Missing Link, LAIKA is finally returning to cinemas with another stop-motion feature.

Wildwood opens on 23 October 2026, and the studio has now released its final trailer as tickets go on sale.

For fans who fell in love with the eerie handmade worlds of Coraline, ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings, that alone is an event.

But Wildwood looks considerably bigger than a simple return to familiar territory.

Into the Impassable Wilderness

The story follows Prue McKeel, a young girl whose baby brother is taken by crows. Her search draws her into a hidden wilderness and a conflict involving strange creatures, warring factions and an entire magical world concealed from ordinary life.

The movie is based on the Wildwood novel by Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis.

LAIKA describes the film as its sixth stop-motion feature, and the latest trailer places the studio’s handmade animation front and centre.

That matters because stop motion has always been part of LAIKA’s identity rather than simply an aesthetic choice.

Seven years since Missing Link

Missing Link arrived in 2019.

Since then, the theatrical animation landscape has changed considerably, while Coraline has continued finding younger fans through reissues, streaming and renewed theatrical interest.

Now LAIKA finally has a new feature ready for audiences.

Wildwood also arrives with premium-format screenings planned in selected cinemas, including 4DX, DBOX and Dolby Cinema.

Why LAIKA still stands apart

There is something particularly appropriate about a studio known for physically building its worlds adapting a story about crossing from the ordinary world into a place that seems impossible.

Every puppet, costume, expression and environment in stop motion carries the evidence of someone having physically made it.

That gives LAIKA films a texture even the most sophisticated computer animation does not attempt to imitate.

Wildwood does not need to be another Coraline to justify the wait.

It simply needs to remind audiences why there is still room for strange, ambitious handcrafted animation in cinemas.

We will find out on 23 October 2026.