Here's the thing that has me smiling about Wildwood, and it's the same thing that makes its marketers nervous. It's a stop-motion movie from the studio behind Coraline. It runs well past two hours. It's rated PG-13. And it's reaching theaters through Fathom Entertainment, a company better known for anniversary rereleases than for opening brand-new films. Every one of those choices makes a quick box-office win harder. Meanwhile the critics are behaving like they just got handed something they've waited years for.

I haven't seen it, and I want to say that plainly. Wildwood premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 11 and opens in theaters this Friday, so what you're reading is my take on the reviews, the rating paperwork, the tracking numbers and the production facts, plus three tools I built myself: an age guide, some ticket-time math and a break-even yardstick. When something is my opinion, I'll say so.

The Key Points

  • Wildwood is Laika's sixth feature, directed by Travis Knight and based on the 2011 novel by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. It opens Friday, Oct. 23, in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Ireland.
  • Critics have it at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes in mid-October coverage, with an 85 on Metacritic according to Gold Derby. Early scores move, so treat them as a first impression.
  • It's Laika's first PG-13 film and, at about 139 minutes, the longest stop-motion movie ever made. The previous record was 117 minutes.
  • It's reportedly a roughly $100 million movie tracking for a $5 million to $10 million opening. My math says that gap is the real story, and I think it's the wrong way to judge the film.
Marker 1The Reviews

Is Wildwood good? The Rotten Tomatoes score and what critics keep saying

Wildwood arrived with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. Early reports counted 14 reviews (ScreenRant), then 17 (ComingSoon), then 20 (Dork), all at 100%, so the pile keeps growing and the percentage can slip. CBR notes it's the best score for a Laika film since Kubo and the Two Strings, which sat at 97% in 2016. Gold Derby adds an 85 on Metacritic.

100%Rotten Tomatoes critics score in mid-October reports
85Metacritic, as cited by Gold Derby
~139minutes, per AP and theater listings
PG-13a first for Laika

Here's how the praise sounds when you read it closely. I'm sorting it into three voices, because “critics loved it” hides how different the compliments are.

The ambition voiceThe Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck called it Laika's most ambitious effort and said it “may also be the company's masterpiece,” as CBR quoted him. Filmhounds' Gavin Spoors reached for the phrase magnum opus.
The emotion voiceScreenRant's Liz Declan, who gave it a 10, describes a movie that swings between beautiful and horrifying and between hopeful and crushing. Gold Derby's headline went further and called it one of the most astonishing animated movies ever made.
The caution voiceComingSoon reports that a few critics had concerns about the story, with the visuals as the main talking point. And Gold Derby's roundup warns parents that critics across the board describe it as dark, with character deaths, violence and war on screen.
How I read a perfect scoreA 100% from two dozen early reviews is a first impression, not a verdict. Those critics chose to attend festival and press screenings, and plenty of beloved movies lose a few points once a wider crowd weighs in. I trust it more than a trailer and less than a full opening weekend, which is why I'm asking “is it worth a ticket?” and not “is it a masterpiece?”
Marker 2The Basics

When does Wildwood come out, who's in it and what is it about?

ReleaseFriday, Oct. 23, 2026, in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Ireland, according to Dork. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 11.
TeamDirected by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings, Bumblebee), written by Chris Butler, produced by Laika. Dario Marianelli composed the score, and Caleb Deschanel is the cinematographer.
SourceThe 2011 novel Wildwood by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Dark Horizons points out the first book runs over 500 pages, which helps explain the movie's length.
DistributionFathom Entertainment handles the domestic release and FilmNation handles international sales, per Variety's January announcement as summarized on Wikipedia.
MusicA soundtrack featuring Marianelli and The Decemberists, Meloy's band, is also due Oct. 23, according to Dork.
PremisePrue McKeel and her classmate Curtis follow Prue's kidnapped baby brother into a hidden, enchanted forest near Portland, where they run into warring factions and a mysterious woman named Alexandra. That's all I'll say, and it's all the spoiler-free premise needs.

The voice cast is big enough to deserve its own roll call. These are the main roles listed on Wikipedia:

Peyton Elizabeth LeePrue McKeel
Jacob TremblayCurtis Mehlberg
Carey MulliganAlexandra
Mahershala AliBrendan, the Bandit King
Angela Bassettthe General, a golden eagle
AwkwafinaSeptima, a rat
Charlie DayDmitri, a coyote
Richard E. GrantOwl Rex
Jemaine ClementRoger Swindon
Tom WaitsMaksim
Jake Johnson and Maya ErskinePrue's parents
Amandla StenbergNiamh

The trailers did their job, too. Wikipedia puts the combined views of the May teaser and the Aug. 19 full trailer at 178 million and calls it the biggest trailer launch ever for a fully stop-motion film. AP reported that the early teaser alone passed 90 million views on YouTube. That's real curiosity, though the money section below explains why curiosity doesn't automatically turn into ticket sales.

Marker 3The Rating

Why is Wildwood rated PG-13, and is it okay for kids? My age guide

This is the question I expect parents to be typing this week. Coraline, ParaNorman and the rest of Laika's catalog carried PG ratings. Wildwood is the studio's first PG-13. According to the reasons the MPA listed, as reported by SlashFilm, the rating covers strong fantasy violence and bloody images, thematic material, suicide-related material, brief partial nudity and language.

That list is more useful than the letters. PG-13 officially means parents are strongly cautioned, because some material may not suit children under 13. Pair that with the critics' warnings about deaths and war, and you get a picture of a fantasy that treats grief and conflict seriously. Here's my own age guide. It's opinion, not a rule, and you know your kid better than I do.

Under 8

I'd wait. The rating reasons, the war storyline the critics describe and a runtime over two hours are a lot to ask of a young viewer in a dark room.

My call: skip for now

8 to 10

This is a parent's call, and I'd make it after reading the rating reasons and watching the trailer together. If either one gives you pause, trust that.

My call: preview first

11 to 12

This is where Coraline fans live, so it's where I'd think hardest. Read the full rating reasons, including the suicide-related material, and plan on a conversation afterward.

My call: go, with a talk planned

13 and up

This is the audience the rating points at. For teens and adults who thought stop-motion was only for little kids, this may be the point of the whole movie.

My call: go

One habit I'd recommend for any movie, not just this one: read the MPA's reasons, not just the letters. Two PG-13 movies can mean very different evenings, and the reasons are where the difference lives.

Marker 4The Runtime

How long is Wildwood? The longest stop-motion movie ever, and my ticket-time math

Different sources give slightly different numbers, which is normal for a film that hasn't opened. AP lists 139 minutes. Regal's website listed 139, according to Animated Views and Dark Horizons, while AMC listed 2 hours and 20 minutes, according to Bloody Disgusting and SlashFilm. I'm using about 139 and flagging the one-minute wobble.

Either way, it's the longest stop-motion feature ever made. The previous record belonged to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio at 117 minutes. SlashFilm says the length also puts Wildwood in the neighborhood of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which runs 140 minutes, for the longest English-language animated film.

139 min=2 h 19 min+trailers

Here's the practical part. If your ticket says 7:00 p.m. and the theater runs about 15 to 20 minutes of previews, which is my assumption and varies by chain, you're looking at roughly 9:35 to 9:40 before the lights come up. That's a school-night problem for families, and SlashFilm notes the length means multiplexes can fit fewer showings into a day. If you want a seat, it's worth looking at the early evening and weekend matinee times first.

Marker 5The Craft

How was Wildwood made? 136 sets, 231 puppets and what “handmade” means here

Laika's pitch has always been that real objects exist in real space. Per Variety's reporting as summarized on Wikipedia, the production used 136 sets and 231 practical puppets. It also used 3D printing for armatures, puppet musculature and simulated water, with visual effects adding touch-ups. Laika confirmed Wildwood as its next film in September 2021, and Wikipedia notes Knight described it as the most ambitious thing the studio had made, with new tools built to stage battles and aerial sequences.

I like that the people making it don't pretend “handmade” means “no computers.” Knight, who is Laika's CEO, told AP, “It's everything I love in one film.” AP also describes him as the son of Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who chairs Laika and has helped fund it. That context matters when you read the next section, because a $100 million handmade epic from an independent studio is not the kind of thing the market tends to reward quickly.

A smaller detail that made me grin: Laika and its partners put 'Wildwood: Follow the Crows' in downtown Portland on Aug. 7, a citywide art trail of giant crows tied to a children's hospital. The film's crows are central to the story, so the trail is a neat way to bring the world to the city where it's set.

Marker 6The Money

Will Wildwood make money? The $100 million question and my break-even yardstick

SlashFilm, citing Box Office Theory, says Wildwood is tracking for a domestic opening between $5 million and $10 million, against a budget it describes as said to be in the $100 million range. I didn't find an official budget figure. The same piece has Clayface favored to win the weekend with $20 million to $29 million, and I covered that movie in my Clayface take.

The same article gives three yardsticks that I find clarifying:

  • $26.5MLaika's 2019 film Missing Link made $5.9 million on opening weekend and $26.5 million worldwide. That's about 4.5 times its opening. SlashFilm calls it a possible worst case.
  • $188MCoraline's 2024 Fathom rerelease grossed over $52 million worldwide and lifted the film's lifetime total to $188 million. Fathom and Laika have history together.
  • $300MMigration opened to $12.4 million and finished at $300.1 million worldwide. That's about 24 times its opening, and SlashFilm calls that kind of run borderline unprecedented for an October release.

Now my math. A common rule of thumb is that a movie needs to gross around twice its budget worldwide to break even, because theaters keep a share. It's a rough rule, not a law, and I'm applying it to a reported budget, so treat what follows as a yardstick and not a forecast. Doubling $100 million gives about $200 million. Here's the multiple of its domestic opening that Wildwood would need to reach that mark:

40×if it opens to $5M
~27×if it opens to $7.5M
20×if it opens to $10M

My arithmetic: $200M divided by each opening. I'm mixing a domestic opening with a worldwide total, as the yardsticks above do. International sales and the terms of the Fathom deal aren't public, so I can't say what Laika's real exposure is.

Read those against the yardsticks. Missing Link's multiple was about 4.5. Migration's was about 24, and it's celebrated as a miracle. At Migration-style legs, Wildwood would need an opening of about $8.3 million to touch $200 million. That's inside the tracking range, but it requires one of the best holds an animated movie has had in years.

Marker 7The Opinion

Why I think the box office worry misses the point, and where I could be wrong

I'll admit my first reaction to those numbers was a wince. Then I thought about what the other options were. The safe version of Wildwood is a 100-minute PG movie with a talking-animal sidekick and a pop song, and it probably would have been easier to sell. Laika made the long, dark, grief-heavy version instead, and the critics are saying the bet paid off artistically. I find that genuinely moving, and I don't think a movie like this gets judged only by its opening weekend.

My reasoning is simple. Laika's catalog has a habit of finding its audience over time, and the Coraline rerelease is the best proof: a 2009 film earning more than $52 million worldwide in 2024. A PG-13 stop-motion epic is also aimed at teens and adults who almost never get this kind of movie, and that audience tends to find things through word of mouth and not through a fast-food tie-in. If Wildwood is as good as the reviews say, the film's best days may come after its first weekend.

Here's where I could be wrong, and I'd rather say it than bury it. Word of mouth only helps if the first weekend is big enough to keep screens. A 139-minute runtime means fewer showtimes. Parents who misjudge the rating could sour on the film in a way that no review fixes. And $100 million is real money, so a movie being admired is different from a movie paying its bills. I'm rooting for it, but I'd be fooling you if I said the math was easy.

My read in one breath

The reviews say it's special, the rating says it's not for little kids, the runtime says plan your night, and the money says it's a long shot. I think a long shot this handmade deserves a seat in a real theater.

One more thing, because the Oscars conversation is already starting. Gold Derby's headline calls Wildwood an Oscar front-runner, and Best Animated Feature is a race I've been following in my piece on whether an AI movie can win an Oscar and in my 2027 Oscar ballot. Nominations are up to Academy voters, so I'm treating the buzz as buzz.

Marker 8The Verdict

Should you see Wildwood in a theater? My verdict by type of viewer

Because I haven't seen it, this verdict is about whether I'd buy a ticket based on what's been reported. Here's how I'd split it.

You grew up on Coraline

You're the audience this was made for, and the reviews suggest it was made with you in mind. If you can get to a theater on opening weekend, it helps a movie like this.

Verdict: go early

You love big fantasy adventures

A hidden world, warring factions and a rescue mission is classic territory. Just plan for the runtime and a possibly heavy emotional landing.

Verdict: go, with snacks

You're a parent of younger kids

Use my age guide above, read the MPA reasons and watch the trailer first. If you hesitate, waiting is a perfectly good answer.

Verdict: preview first

You usually wait for streaming

I didn't find an announced home-viewing date in the sources I read, so a theater is the only confirmed way to see it. A handmade film with this much craft is the kind of thing a big screen rewards.

Verdict: the theater is the sure bet
Marker 9The Rapid Round

Wildwood questions, answered fast

When does Wildwood come out?

Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Ireland. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 11.

What is Wildwood's Rotten Tomatoes score?

100% from critics in mid-October reports, based on 14 to 20 reviews depending on when the write-up ran. Gold Derby also cites an 85 on Metacritic. Scores change, so check the live pages.

Is Wildwood worth watching?

Early critics say yes, and several call it Laika's best. I haven't seen it, so my answer is a ticket-worthy yes with a clear warning about the runtime and the rating.

How long is Wildwood?

About 139 minutes according to AP and Regal's listing. AMC listed 2 hours and 20 minutes. Either way, it's the longest stop-motion feature ever made.

Why is Wildwood rated PG-13?

The MPA's reasons, as reported by SlashFilm, are strong fantasy violence and bloody images, thematic material, suicide-related material, brief partial nudity and language.

Is Wildwood okay for kids?

It's Laika's first PG-13 film, and critics describe character deaths, violence and war. My age guide above is opinion, and the MPA says parents are strongly cautioned for children under 13.

Who is in the Wildwood voice cast?

Peyton Elizabeth Lee voices Prue, with Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Charlie Day, Jemaine Clement, Richard E. Grant, Tom Waits and more.

Is Wildwood based on a book?

Yes. It's based on the 2011 novel Wildwood by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis.

Who is distributing Wildwood?

Fathom Entertainment in the U.S. and FilmNation for international sales, according to Wikipedia's summary of Variety's announcement.

How much did Wildwood cost?

SlashFilm says its budget is said to be in the $100 million range. I didn't find an official number.

What is Wildwood's box office tracking?

A $5 million to $10 million domestic opening, per Box Office Theory as cited by SlashFilm. Clayface, which opens the same day, is tracking at $20 million to $29 million.

Is Wildwood stop-motion or CGI?

Stop-motion. It used 231 practical puppets and 136 sets, with 3D printing and some visual effects touch-ups.

Where I land

If you strip away the numbers, Wildwood is a story about a kid walking into the woods to bring her brother home, made by hundreds of people who moved tiny puppets a fraction of an inch at a time. That's a lovely thing to exist in 2026. I don't know yet whether it's a masterpiece, and neither does anyone else who hasn't sat through the whole thing with a crowd.

What I do know is that it's rare for a movie this big to be this handmade, this long and this willing to be sad. If that sounds like your kind of Friday night, read the rating reasons, check the showtime math and go. And if you're bringing someone younger, make the call with your eyes open.