Laika has revealed plans to produce stop-motion animated The Night Gardener, helmed by CEO Travis Knight — who previously directed Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings and Paramount’s Bumblebee — and made in conjunction with Bill Dubuque, creator of Netflix series Ozark, who wrote the original screenplay.
The Night Gardener is described as a gritty neo-noir folktale centered on a young man in rural Missouri fighting to keep his family together in the wake of a tragedy.
“The Night Gardener is a beautiful and timeless story that quickens the pulse as often as it breaks the heart,” says Knight. “Bill is a masterful storyteller. He’s crafted a lyrical world layered with complex characters, provocative ideas and keenly felt emotion. It’s gonna be one helluva movie.”
“I’m delighted that Travis Knight saw in The Night Gardener a story worthy of the time-intensive process and collective talent of Laika’s in-house artisans,” says Dubuque. “Laika’s creativity and dedication to detail is, in my opinion, as close as one can come to conjuring storytelling magic.”
The studio is currently in production on Wildwood, the first film set in Laika’s hometown of Portland, Oregon. Knight is directing the animated film, based on the best-selling fantasy novel by Colin Meloy, lead singer and songwriter for the rock group The Decemberists.
Dubuque co-wrote Warner Bros. feature The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall, for which Duvall would earn an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
