2026 is full of big movies, but only a few of them can claim to be important. These select films could be seen to bear the weight of a larger industry trend, and their success or failure could impact future studio decision-making. In 2025, F1 becoming a global hit gave life to Apple’s experiment with theatrical distribution, while Sinners proved betting big on an exciting filmmaker’s original idea could still be good business.
There are a few on this year’s release calendar that could be singled out this way, but a new one just officially joined their ranks. Wildwood, the next film from stop-motion studio Laika, was confirmed today to be releasing in US theaters on October 23, 2026. This caps off a lengthy search for distribution that already pushed the movie a year; the first title reveal teaser went public way back in August 2024. Despite previous relationships with Focus Features and Annapurna, no large distributors bit. Wildwood‘s wide American release will come courtesy of Fathom Entertainment, so far better known for short-run events and re-releases, while FilmNation will handle international sales.
This is a comeback opportunity for Laika, which hasn’t released a new feature since 2019’s Missing Link, a major box-office bomb. And it could be stop-motion’s last chance to secure a place in movie theaters.
Wildwood’s October 2026 Release Could Save Stop-Motion Animation, Or Bury It
Original animated films have struggled in theaters post-pandemic. Disney and Pixar have broken records with sequels, but their unfamiliar projects have had to claw their way to success, and even if they make it, their box office ceiling isn’t what it used to be. Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot, which made $334 million worldwide, is only a success story because of how much less it cost than typical studio animation. The 2020s have seen some notable stop-motion films – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio even won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature – but they’ve all been streaming releases.
Netflix, especially, seems to believe in the medium, and it seems unlikely that they wouldn’t have shown interest in Wildwood while it was being shopped. But Laika clearly held out for theatrical, and when none of the established players bit, they went an unconventional route. David Burke, Laika’s Chief Marketing and Operations Officer, called the film a “testament to Laika walking its own path” and hailed this release strategy for “preserving Laika’s independence.” Travis Knight, Laika’s CEO and Wildwood‘s director, called the movie “a celebration of artistry over algorithms” and emphasized it was made “to be seen the way movies first captured our imaginations: discovered in the dark, on a big screen, with a room full of fellow dreamers experiencing joy, silence, and wonder together.“
Laika’s pairing with Fathom doesn’t come out of nowhere. They handled the recent re-releases of Coraline and ParaNorman, the former of which made another $52 million. Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt has confirmed Wildwood will receive “a full, nationwide U.S. theatrical release of ‘Wildwood’ consistent with that of the legacy Hollywood studios,” and if it works, everyone involved will look like geniuses.
But if it doesn’t, Laika’s insistence on theatrical will hurt more than just them. Every distributor that passed will feel justified for having done so, and Wildwood will become the go-to example of what happens when you insist on putting a “non-theatrical” stop-motion movie in theaters in today’s landscape. For the company’s efforts in the medium to continue, they’ll likely need to find a willing streaming partner.
The stakes are high, but Wildwood was built as Laika’s comeback movie, and the two recent re-releases hopefully helped build anticipation for it. They’re clearly confident enough to bet it all on this film. Now it’s up to the animation industry, and anyone who loves seeing stop-motion on the big screen, to show up in October.
- Director
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Travis Knight
- Writers
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Chris Butler, Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy
