LAIKA’s final Wildwood trailer, released September 16, 2026, offers its broadest look yet at teenager Prue McKeel’s journey into an enchanted forest to rescue her abducted baby brother. The stop-motion fantasy opens in U.S. theaters October 23, with tickets now on sale.
What the final Wildwood trailer reveals
The trailer follows Prue as she enters the Impassable Wilderness, a forest beyond Portland, Oregon, after crows abduct her baby brother. Her classmate Curtis Mehlberg joins her. Fathom Entertainment, the U.S. theatrical distributor, called the September 16 trailer the biggest look yet at Prue’s journey and rescue attempt. Fathom’s announcement accompanied the start of ticket sales.
The premise sets a family rescue story inside a fantasy landscape. The trailer is a first look at the film’s setup; it is not a substitute for seeing the finished movie.
When and where to see Wildwood
The announced U.S. theatrical opening is October 23, 2026. The film is also scheduled to premiere in the United States as the opening-night selection of the 40th AFI FEST on October 21. Select screenings are listed in 4DX, DBOX, and Dolby Cinema; those formats are not available at every theater. Check local listings for showtimes and format availability. Tickets are on sale through the official Wildwood site.
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Fathom Entertainment is handling U.S. theatrical distribution, while FilmNation Entertainment handles international sales. The October 23 date above is the announced U.S. release date, not a worldwide release schedule.
The book behind the film
Wildwood adapts Colin Meloy’s 2011 fantasy novel, illustrated by Carson Ellis. The book introduces the same central journey into the wilderness to save Prue’s brother, making Colin Meloy’s Wildwood the source story for readers who want to explore the novel behind the film. This is a recommendation of the source novel, not a claim about a film tie-in edition. The Associated Press connected the movie to the book in its September 3, 2026 feature.
Director, cast, and production
Travis Knight directs and produces the film, and Chris Butler wrote it. Peyton Elizabeth Lee voices Prue; Jacob Tremblay voices Curtis. The ensemble voice cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant. Fathom lists the production and cast details in its release announcement.
The Associated Press reported that the production used 136 sets and 231 practical puppets. It also reported that making the golden eagle character, The General, took about 3,000 hours. Those figures provide a sense of the production’s physical scale, not a measure of the film’s quality. Knight told the AP, “The making of the art leaves fingerprints on the art,” and described stop-motion as “a quiet act of rebellion.”
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Rating and family viewing context
The official movie site lists Wildwood as PG-13 for strong fantasy violence or bloody images, thematic material, suicide-related material, brief partial nudity, and language. These are the published descriptors; parents and viewers can use them to decide whether the film is appropriate for their household. See the official site for its current rating information.
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