Wildwood Film Opens Third at US Box Office, 15 Years On

The same report describes the figure as one of LAIKA's lower debuts.

Critics and early audiences have been warmer than the takings suggest. The film holds a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and an 'A' CinemaScore from opening-night audiences, per the SFF Gazette report.

Other outlets report slightly different totals for the weekend. Cartoon Brew gives $12.2 million for 23–25 October, citing distributor Fathom Entertainment, while the IBTimes puts worldwide takings at around $15 million.

The Los Angeles Times notes that this is LAIKA's first film in seven years and that it has been in the works since 2011. A Nerds of Color piece on the studio's artists puts the journey from pre-production to release at 16 years.

The release followed delays from an earlier 2025 target, as noted on the Wikipedia entry for the novel). A Pirates & Princesses report says the film reportedly cost $100 million to make, so it "has a long way to go".

The adaptation's local roots are visible in how it has played at home. Willamette Week reports that, despite the national third place, screenings sold out at Portland indie theatres, with audiences clapping and cheering at local references.

That fits a book whose setting is part of its identity: the novel) gives prominent place to Portland's natural beauty and local colour. Carson Ellis, Meloy's wife, supplied the book's 85 illustrations, and the pair collaborated closely throughout the writing.

Meloy and Ellis reflected on the film's long-awaited release in a Polygon feature published on 27 October.

Meloy, best known as frontman of The Decemberists, is also part of the film's musical afterlife. KEXP and LAIKA released the 'Wildwood Sessions' on 26 October, featuring Meloy among other musicians, according to That Eric Alper.

Wildwood is a 2011 fantasy novel in which Prue McKeel chases a murder of crows into Portland's hidden Impassable Wilderness to rescue her kidnapped baby brother. It spent two weeks on the New York Times children's chapter-book list and tied for the 2012 E. B. White Read Aloud Award.

For the book's verdict, read our review of Wildwood.