Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson Join Laika’s ‘Missing Link’

Opening spring 2019 in the U.S. release, the animated feature marks one of the biggest titles at this year’s Cannes market


Laika’s newest animated feature has added an official title, “Missing Link,” a projected release and a full key voice cast with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson joining the already-announced Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis. Stuart Ford’s new AGC Intl. is handling foreign sales.


“Missing Link,” which unveiled the first photo in Cannes, is the first Laika title to be distributed in the U.S. by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures. Laika’s first four features — “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “The Boxtrolls,” “ParaNorman” and “Coraline” — were released by Universal/Focus Films. All received Academy Award nominations.


Directed by “ParaNorman’s” Chris Butler, “Missing Link” also stars Timothy Olyphant, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Ching Valdez-Aran and Amrita Acharia. Annapurna has set a spring 2019 U.S. release.


Laika president-CEO Travis Knight, who will meet with foreign distributors at Cannes, describes “Missing Link” as achieving “something we’ve never tried before: a raucous comedy entwined with a swashbuckling epic,underscoringthe universal need to find belonging.”


Created with 110 sets and 65 unique locations, “Missing Link” turns on the charismatic Sir Lionel Frost (Jackman) who sets out to prove the existence of a legendary creature the Missing Link (Galifianakis), a soulful beast who, as the last of his kind, is rather lonely.