One of the most acclaimed movies of 2026 so far has also become arguably the biggest box office disappointment of the year. Laika is responsible for some of the best stop-motion animated movies ever made, including “Coraline” and “Kubo and the Two Strings.” The studio’s latest effort, “Wildwood,” may well go down as the studio’s crowning achievement. Be that as it may, all of the praise didn’t motivate enough people to see it in theaters on opening weekend.
Directed by Travis Knight, who previously helmed “Kubo” as well as this year’s “Masters of the Universe,” “Wildwood” debuted to $12.2 million domestically. That was good enough for the number three spot. It trailed “You Can See Everything” as it continues to defy expectations at the box office with a $19.5 million second weekend, as well as DC’s R-rated “Clayface,” which took the number one spot with $24 million.
In theory, Laika’s latest should have been able to serve as a good bit of counter-programming. And it sort of did. The problem? “Wildwood” needed to overcome its big budget to become a box office hit. With a reported price tag in the $100 million range before marketing, an opening of this size isn’t going to get the job done. That is a major shame in light of just how much praise is being heaped upon this movie.
“Wildwood” focuses on the adventures of a young girl named Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped infant brother. It’s based on the 2011 fantasy novel of the same name by writer Colin Meloy and artist Carson Ellis.
Wildwood has been met with near-universal praise
“Wildwood” is receiving the sort of reception that most filmmakers can only dream of. As of this writing, it holds a 99% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 123 reviews counted. The stop-motion animated flick also boasts a 97% audience score along with a stellar A CinemaScore.
/Film’s Witney Seibold called “Wildwood” a “stunner” that “makes fantasy feel fresh again” in his review. He’s certainly not alone in praising Laika’s latest.
The good news is that those high marks will help with word of mouth, meaning that the movie can have legs in the coming weeks. Still, with a $12 million opening, it would need record-breaking legs and a lot of help from overseas audiences to approach becoming an outright theatrical hit. History, unfortunately, tells us that the deck is now heavily stacked against it, even if it’s now assuredly the front-runner to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
So, why couldn’t Laika turn all of this praise into more meaningful ticket sales on opening weekend? For one, “Wildwood” is unlike most American animated movies in two key ways, in that it’s rated PG13 and has a 131-minute runtime. Most animated movies made by Hollywood studios are produced with kids in mind and come in under two hours. So, the rating and the length may have turned off certain viewers on what proved to be a competitive weekend at the box office.
Beyond that, we’ve, sadly, seen time and time again that praise doesn’t always put butts in seats. It can help, but it doesn’t always. Just look at “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” “Tony,” or any number of other movies that critics loved this year yet failed to do big numbers in theaters. It happens all the time.
Laika has never produced particularly big box office hits despite the acclaim
Laika has always been in a bit of a conundrum as a studio. Generally speaking, stop-motion movies aren’t as broadly appealing to moviegoers as more standard animated fare. At the same time, they’re very expensive and time consuming to produce. Indeed, the studio’s films have never been particularly huge box office hits, which makes the financials tricky.
“Coraline” is a beloved animated movie that finally became a box office hit in 2024, a full 15 years after its original release. It has made $188 million worldwide on a $60 million budget, but only $127 million of that came in 2009. The movie’s audience grew over time. Most of Laika’s other films haven’t been so lucky. “The Boxtrolls” ($108 million worldwide/$60 million budget), “Kubo and the Two Strings” ($76 million worldwide/$60 million budget), and “Missing Link” ($26 million worldwide/$100 million budget) were all disappointments if not major flops.
Laika has produced animated box office bombs that deserve a second chance more than it’s produced outright hits. That brings us back to “Wildwood.” It’s almost assured that this movie’s audience will grow over time in light of the acclaim, especially if it goes the distance at the Oscars. A lot of folks are going to catch up with it on VOD and streaming, which is going to contribute a lot in terms of revenue. Is that going to be enough to turn it into a hit?
That’s a steep hill to climb, at least in the shorter term. It may go full “Coraline” but, at least for the moment, it’s yet another example of what is broadly considered to be a masterwork not getting its due from a financial POV, which is a real shame.
“Wildwood” is in theaters now.
