Portland-based Laika will explore a labyrinthian alternate reality in “Piranesi,” one of its upcoming stop-motion animated features, adapted from Susanna Clarke’s best-selling fantasy novel. Laika president/CEO Travis Knight (“Wildwood,” “Kubo and the Two Strings”) will direct, pushing stop-motion further into the domain traditionally occupied by live action.
In “Piranesi,” the eponymous protagonist lives in a strange house comprised of infinite rooms, endless corridors and walls lined with thousands of statues. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. Piranesi, who believes that he’s always lived in the house, studies the tides and architectural pattern as part of his exploration. He meets another person, the Other, who visits twice a week and asks for assistance in his research about the house. Piranesi soon discovers dark secrets and a world beyond what he’s always known.
“’Piranesi’ is a treasure, and very dear to me,” said Knight. “As a filmmaker, I can scarcely imagine a more joyful experience than wandering through the worlds Susanna dreamed into being. She’s one of my all-time favorite authors, and…has created a beautiful, devastating and ultimately life-affirming work of art.”
“Animation is one of my favorite things,” added Clarke. “I’ve been inspired by so many animated movies; and Laika has produced such extraordinary work — movies like ‘Coraline’ and ‘Kubo and the Two Strings,’ full of beauty and wonder and weirdness. I’m thrilled that ‘Piranesi’ has found a home with them and I can’t wait to see what they do.”
Meanwhile, the five-time Oscar-nominated Laika is currently in production on its sixth feature, “Wildwood” (2025), the studio’s first fantasy, based on the novel by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. It’s the studio’s most ambitious movie to date about a secret forest in Portland, and boasts an epic battle sequence. No distribution has been announced, though there are plenty of streaming opportunities with Neflix, Amazon, or Apple.
“Wildwood” is produced by Arianne Sutner and scripted by Chris Butler, both of whom won the Golden Globe for “Missing Link,” which Butler directed.
The voice cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Amandla Stenberg, Jemaine Clement, Maya Erskine, Tantoo Cardinal, Tom Waits, and Richard E. Grant.
In addition, legendary cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (“The Right Stuff”) makes his first foray into stop-motion. The six-time Oscar nominee brings his naturalistic style to handcrafted animation after lensing the virtual world of Jon Favreau’s “The Lion King.” “I’m always looking to doing something I’ve never done before,” he emailed IndieWire. “Which means working on a project where I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
Laika also has the stop-motion feature, “The Night Gardener,” in development, based on an original screenplay by “Ozark” co-creator Bill Dubuque, which Knight plans to direct. It’s described by the studio as a “gritty neo-noir folktale centered on a young man in rural Missouri fighting to keep his family together in the wake of a tragedy. The film will paint an unflinching portrait of sacrifice, self-reliance and revenge.”
