For now, Laika is still known for its stop-motion animated features such as “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “ParaNorman,” and “Coraline.” But that may soon change. The company has been steadily developing a slate of live-action features to complement its animated movies, and its latest may be among the most high profile it has announced.
Laika has tapped “The Farewell” and “Expats” director Lulu Wang to direct a feature adaptation of “Audition,” the book from author Katie Kitamura released this year that was a finalist on the longlist for the Booker Prize. Already the studio has nabbed two big stars to lead the project, Lucy Liu and Charles Melton, and a producer who is as big of a fan as you can get, Barack Obama on behalf of his Higher Ground banner.
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“Audition” is a twisty thriller that follows a celebrated actress enjoying a charmed, bohemian life in Manhattan with her creative husband. That is until a mysterious young man appears, claiming to be her long-lost son. What begins as a misguided reunion spirals into an enthralling mystery about identity, guilt, and the roles we perform. Martyna Majok, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, is co-writing the adaptation with Wang.
Obama included “Audition” in his annual summer reading list for 2025, calling it a “quiet novel about the ways we hide our true selves from others — and ourselves.” High praise.
For Wang, this is just her second feature after “The Farewell,” having created and directed the Amazon Prime Video limited series “Expats.” While “The Farewell” was on original story, with “Expats,” she certainly showed her skill at directing an adaptation — in that case of Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel “The Expatriates.”
“Bringing Katie Kitamura’s ‘Audition’ to the screen is a thrilling challenge,” Wang said in a statement. “What makes it feel possible, and electrifying, is working with Lucy Liu and Charles Melton. They’re both such magnetic performers and I can’t imagine better collaborators to step into this story with.”
Laika has a number of live-action projects in development, but only a few have been announced so far. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s next film is for Laika and is an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new novel “Atmosphere.” “Dune” writer Jon Spaihts has an original movie that was the first project announced by the studio. There’s an adaptation of the action thriller novel “Seventeen” in development that screenwriter John Brownlow is adapting. And Brian Duffield (“Spontaneous”) is writing and directing an original script called “Crumble” that has Phil Lord and Chris Miller attached as producers.
Laika is still working on its animated features that are its bread and butter and, as IndieWire reported, is working on re-introducing itself to audiences after a box office misfire with its last project “Missing Link.” The company’s sixth animated feature, “Wildwood,” is in the works now and directed by Travis Knight, who himself is also juggling the live-action “Masters of the Universe” film for Amazon MGM.
Higher Ground and LAIKA will produce “Audition” in association with Wang’s production company Local Time. Higher Ground’s Vinnie Malhotra and Anikah McLaren, LAIKA’s Travis Knight and Matt Levin, and Lulu Wang are producers. Lucy Liu, LAIKA’s Jeremy Kipp Walker and author Katie Kitamura are executive producers.
