Wildwood is now playing in U.S. theaters, and LAIKA's seven-year absence has ended with unusually broad critical approval. Rotten Tomatoes showed a 100% Tomatometer from 85 reviews on October 23, alongside a 98% audience score from more than 250 verified ratings. The perfect percentage needs context, though: it records how many included reviews are positive, not an average score or proof that critics agree on every part of the film.
That distinction matters because the release-day conversation contains two different stories. Reviewers overwhelmingly admire the stop-motion craft and scale, while several question the familiar plotting, 132-minute length or intensity for younger children. At the same time, Box Office Theory forecasts a $4.5 million-$9.5 million domestic opening weekend. Critical approval has arrived; a large theatrical audience is not yet guaranteed.
U.S. theaters are the only confirmed way to watch today
Fathom Entertainment's U.S. ticket page lists screenings from October 23, with 4DX and D-BOX filters as well as dubbed and subtitled options. Fathom's release announcement also advertises select Dolby Cinema presentations where available. The official Wildwood site currently directs viewers to theatrical tickets, and no official digital-rental, purchase or subscription-streaming date has been announced. Any claimed home-viewing window is therefore an estimate, not a confirmed plan.
Israel is on a later timetable. HOT CINEMA currently lists the Hebrew title יער פרא for November 12, 2026, in English with Hebrew subtitles. Its page still carries an older 139-minute figure, so this article uses the better-supported finished runtime of 132 minutes and does not treat the local listing as proof of a different cut.
A 100% score still contains real disagreements
The common ground is visual. TheWrap calls the film an astonishing, emotionally charged showcase for the human effort behind its stop-motion world. The Associated Press is much cooler on the whole film, arguing that the technology outpaces a conventional story and that the violence can be exhausting. Its review describes beheading, bloody combat, eye-gouging and peril involving a baby—useful specifics for families weighing the PG-13 rating.
The score therefore supports a narrower conclusion than 'every critic thinks Wildwood is flawless.' Across 85 classified reviews, every verdict counted by Rotten Tomatoes was positive as of this check. Inside that agreement, critics still differ on whether LAIKA's handmade spectacle carries the story for more than two hours and whether its darker material fits a family outing. This is a review consensus, not a hands-on NexusGG review.
The forecast puts Wildwood near LAIKA's lower openings
Box Office Theory's October 21 forecast places Wildwood at $4.5 million-$9.5 million for the domestic weekend, with estimated theater counts and a warning that forecasts can change. For context, Boxoffice Pro records $12.6 million for Kubo and the Two Strings and $14 million for ParaNorman, while Missing Link opened to $5.9 million in 2019. Wildwood's current range brackets that lowest LAIKA debut but does not reach the Kubo comparison at its upper end.
That makes the weekend a distribution test as much as a review-score celebration. Fathom has repeatedly brought Coraline back to cinemas, but Wildwood is its first first-run LAIKA launch, and the final screen count remained difficult to estimate before release. For the production story behind those expectations, read NexusGG's feature on Wildwood's 132-minute stop-motion scale. The next useful evidence will be the actual weekend gross, not another pre-release percentage.
