Travis Knight’s Wildwood finally arrives — after 16 years, a child born during its inception now drives to the premiere. The stop-motion fantasy, long whispered about in animation circles as Laika’s most ambitious project yet, had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday. It’s not just a film. It’s a monument to patience. To persistence. To the kind of slow burn that makes you wonder if it’ll ever finish. But it did. And it’s coming to theatres on October 23. In the US, Fathom Entertainment will handle distribution. In the UK, Black Bear takes the reins. The film is also Laika’s first to land a PG-13 rating, a shift from their usual family-friendly tone. That alone tells you something’s different. Something darker. More adult. Knight, who’s been at the helm since 2021 and has spoken openly about the gruelling process, described the stop-motion method with a mix of awe and exhaustion: ‘We build thousands of tiny objects, move them a microscopic distance, take a picture… repeat until the film emerges or society collapses.’ He wasn’t joking. When they started, Barack Obama was still in his first term. A kid born then could now legally drive. The movie began life as a book deal. Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s Wildwood, optioned by Laika a decade before production began. Now, with Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and Jacob Tremblay lending their voices, it’s ready. No more delays. No more false starts. Just the final frame. The next question? How many people will actually see it. Not everyone can wait 16 years for a film. But those who did? They’re already there.