After a string of successes with Coraline, ParaNorman, and, most recently, The Boxtrolls, Laika and Focus Features have announced their next collaboration. The Portland-based animation company revealed today that Laika’s president and CEO Travis Knight will make his directorial debut on Kubo and the Two Strings, with a top-notch voice cast to back the project.
Coming from an original script by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (ParaNorman) the stop-motion/CGI hybrid (like their last work) is described as a “sweeping, swashbuckling adventure set in a mythical ancient Japan.” Leading the voice cast is Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Brenda Vaccaro, and Art Parkinson as the title character.
We’ll eagerly be awaiting the animation, which arrives in a little under two years, specifically on August 19th, 2016. In the meantime, check out the synopsis and first art design below, and read our extensive interview with Knight here.
In the epic fantasy, scruffy, kindhearted Kubo ekes out a humble living while devotedly caring for his mother in their sleepy shoreside village. It is a quiet existence – until a spirit from the past catches up with him to enforce an age-old vendetta. Suddenly on the run from gods and monsters, Kubo’s chance for survival rests on finding the magical suit of armor once worn by his fallen father, the greatest samurai the world has ever known. Summoning courage, Kubo embarks on a thrilling odyssey as he faces his family’s history, navigates the elements, and bravely fights for the earth and the stars.
What do you think of their next project?