Laika Reveals Details, First Image From New Film ‘Missing Link’
Laika has offered new details on its next film, Missing Link, and set its U.S. release for spring 2019.
The comedy-adventure quest film follows a monster investigator, Sir Lionel Frost, who discovers a mythical beast, Mr. Link, and together they go on an adventure to find the fabled valley of monsters.
Here’s the official synopsis:
The charismatic Sir Lionel Frost (voiced by Hugh Jackman) considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters. The trouble is none of his small-minded high-society peers seems to recognize this. Sir Lionel’s last chance for acceptance by the adventuring elite rests on traveling to America’s Pacific Northwest to prove the existence of a legendary creature. A living remnant of Man’s primitive ancestry. The Missing Link.
Zach Galifianakis is Mr. Link: the slightly silly, surprisingly smart and soulful beast upon whom Sir Lionel’s dreams depend. As species go, he’s as endangered as they get; he’s the last of his kind, and he’s lonely. Proposing a daring quest to seek out his rumored distant relatives, he enlists Sir Lionel’s help in an odyssey around the world to find the fabled valley of Shangri-La.
Together with Adelina Fortnight (voiced by Zoe Saldana), an independent and resourceful adventurer who possesses the only known map to the group’s secret destination, the unlikely trio embarks on a riotous rollercoaster of a ride. Along the way, our fearless explorers encounter more than their fair share of peril, stalked at every turn by dastardly villains seeking to thwart their mission.
“Missing Link is an artistic and technical wonder,” said Laika CEO and president Knight. “Led by our visionary director Chris Butler, Laika has once again blended fine art, craftsmanship, and cutting-edge technology to achieve something we’ve never tried before: a raucous comedy entwined with a swashbuckling epic, underscoring the universal need to find belonging…It’s the most striking thing we’ve ever done.”
Knight is meeting with foreign buyers this week at the Cannes Film Festival. It was previously announced that Missing Link will be distributed in the U.S. by Annapurna Pictures. International sales are being handled by AGC International.
Missing Link is written and directed by Chris Butler, who also wrote and co-directed the studio’s earlier film, Paranorman. Arianne Sutner and Knight are producing.
In addition to Jackman, Saldana and Galifianakis, the voice cast includes Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Timothy Olyphant, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Amrita Acharia, and Ching Valdes-Aran.
