Laika, the studio responsible for producing some of the most remarkable stop-motion animated films of all time, like Coraline, Kudo and the Two Strings, and Paranorman, is making good on a three-year-old promise to get into the live-action game with Crumble, an upcoming action-adventure film from filmmaker Brian Duffield (No One Will Save You, Cocaine Bear, Spontaneous). Duffield directs Crumble from his script with the promise of taking audiences on an epic adventure.
Crumble focuses on a married couple who embark on a world-traveling adventure, hoping to find a cure to an ancient curse. The project has notable producing power, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller producing alongside Aditya Sood via their Lord Miller studio. Duffield produces in addition to his directorial and scripting duties. Lord Miller’s Lucy Kitada and Nikki Baida executive produce.
“We’re so excited to partner with Brian and the entire team at Lord Miller on this special film,” said Laika’s President, Live Action Film & Series, Matt Levin. “Brian has such a singular voice and Crumble perfectly embodies the bold, emotional, and inventive storytelling that we champion at LAIKA. Lord Miller is in a class of its own and we could not ask for a better creative team to bring this story to life.”
Laika is busier than ever, having worked on several projects in various states of development, including Wildwood, a stop-motion animated adaptation of Colin Meloy’s novel. Wildwood stars the voices of Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Mahershala Ali, and more. The story is told from multiple points of view, and the book features more than eighty illustrations, including six full-color plates. In Wildwood, Prue and her friend Curtis uncover a secret world amid violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. What begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.
In addition to Wildwood, filmmaker and Laika Studios CEO Travis Knight says he’s developing an adaptation of Susanne Clarke’s best-selling novel Piranesi.
Here’s a synopsis for Collins’s Piranesi courtesy of Amazon:
Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has.
In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays, Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times, he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.
Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they, and what do they want? Are they friends, or do they bring destruction and madness, as the Other claims?
Lost texts must be found, and secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.
The beauty of the House is immeasurable; its kindness is infinite.
“Piranesi is a treasure, and very dear to me. As a filmmaker, I can scarcely imagine a more joyful experience than wandering through the worlds Susanna dreamed into being,” said Knight. “She’s one of my all-time favorite authors, and with Piranesi, Susanna has created a beautiful, devastating and ultimately life-affirming work of art. I’m humbled that she chose LAIKA as her home.”
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