The American Film Institute announced Wednesday that Laika's stop-motion animated feature Wildwood will serve as the opening-night film for the 40th edition of AFI Fest, which runs October 21-25 at the TCL Chinese Theatres.
The October 21 screening will mark the film's U.S. premiere, following its world premiere on October 11 at the London Film Festival. Wildwood then opens in theaters October 23 via Fathom Entertainment.
Directed by Travis Knight from a screenplay by Chris Butler based on the novel by Colin Meloy, Wildwood follows headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), whose baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. Prue teams up with her loyal but hapless classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay) to launch a rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness, an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon.
The 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.
Knight said it took 16 years to bring Wildwood into the world. The film is the sixth feature from his Oregon-based studio Laika, following Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link — each of which received an Animated Feature Oscar nomination.
"AFI is honored to celebrate Wildwood as the Opening Night Film of the 40th annual AFI Fest," said AFI President & CEO Bob Gazzale. "At a time when the world needs artistic inspiration more than ever, Wildwood comes to the rescue by inviting audiences to a hand-crafted, endlessly imaginative world that both dazzles and delights."
AFI Fest typically showcases a slate of award-season contenders during its run. The festival's full lineup will be revealed September 29.
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
