New Animated Film Just Broke a Massive Record But Is Headed for Major Box Office Disappointment
Wildwood is the sixth feature film from stop-motion animation studio Laika, the Portland-based company run by the movie’s director, Travis Knight. Established controversially in the wake of a hostile takeover of Claymation pioneer Will Vinton Studios, Laika has nonetheless made consistently critically acclaimed films that tend not to do well in initial release, but gain in affection over time as cult classics. Coraline, for example, directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Henry Selick, made $125 million worldwide when it first came out, but $52 million in rerelease. It’s been seen by enough people that when the horror movie Other Mommy was announced, many fans were quick to reference Coraline’s villainous Other Mother.
Wildwood is based on a novel by Portland author Colin Meloy, inspired by the nearby Forest Park. The movie trailers promise a story reminiscent of the beloved Jim Henson fantasy Labyrinth, with a quest into a fantasy realm to save a teenage girl’s kidnapped baby brother. Labyrinth, it should be noted, opened eighth at the box office in 1986, though it’s now considered a beloved favorite.
Wildwood Is Already Acclaimed, but Likely to Flop (For Now)
Wildwood‘s review embargo broke today, and it set a Rotten Tomatoes record with 100% (which isn’t the only record it has broken), making it the highest-rated animated feature of the decade. William Bibbiani at The Wrap calls it “so ambitious and intricate that it’s hard to even fathom,” while Guy Lodge at Variety says “as both a formal achievement and a generation-crossing crowdpleaser, Wildwood is a spectacular success.” The other reviews are of the same ilk. Yet audiences don’t seem sufficiently pumped: the box office tracking thus far reveals that the $100 million movie likely has an opening weekend ceiling of just $10 million. Perhaps some growing pains are afoot — the film is the first new Laika movie being distributed by Fathom Events, which handled the Coraline rerelease, but typically does one-night only events and anniversaries rather than first-run full releases.
If Wildwood proves well-liked but financially unsuccessful, that’ll make Knight two-for-two as director this year. Masters of the Universe, which he also directed, is currently at 68% on the Tomatometer, and was well received by fans of the toys and Filmation cartoon, but failed to expand its audience much beyond Gen-X dads who remembered the source material. Knight previously directed the most well-liked live-action Transformers movie, Bumblebee, which was also a box-office misfire. Knight is heir to the Nike sneaker fortune, so Laika probably isn’t going to go out of business any time soon, as animation is his passion. Yet his films still look to remain ahead of their time, benefitting more from long-term word of mouth rather than initial heat.
Wildwood stars Disney Channel alumnus Peyton Elizabeth Lee as lead teenager Prue, with Jacob Tremblay as her classmate Jacob. Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Rob Delaney, Tom Waits, Angela Bassett, Amandla Stenberg, Awkwafina, Richard E. Grant, and Jemaine Clement are among those who voice various fantastical characters the young duo encounter. Knight’s next scheduled movie, an animated film called Piranesi, is about a house filled with infinite rooms, and the man who maps them; it sounds similar enough to the zeitgeist-catching Backrooms that it might finally be a hit for him. Unless audiences can prove tracking wrong and make Wildwood that hit now, of course.
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