LAIKA Announces Crumble for Live Action Arena
July 09 2024 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
No One Will Save You Filmmaker Brian
Duffield to Write and Direct; Oscar® Winners Phil Lord and
Chris Miller Producing
Award-winning studio LAIKA is bolstering its Live Action slate
by acquiring Crumble, an original script by Brian Duffield
(Spontaneous, No One Will Save You), who will direct. Oscar®
winners Phil Lord and Chris Miller as well as Aditya Sood will
produce through their Lord Miller banner. Duffield will also
produce. Lucy Kitada and Nikki Baida from Lord Miller will serve as
executive producers.
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Brian Duffield will write and direct
"Crumble." Photo Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty.
Crumble tells the tale of a married couple who go on a
world-traversing adventure in the hope of finding a cure to an
ancient curse.
LAIKA’s President, Live Action Film & Series Matt Levin made
the announcement today.
"We're so excited to partner with Brian and the entire team at
Lord Miller on this special film,” said Levin. “Brian has such a
singular voice and Crumble perfectly embodies the bold, emotional,
and inventive storytelling that we champion at LAIKA. Lord Miller
is in a class of its own and we could not ask for a better creative
team to bring this story to life.”
Brian Duffield is one of today's most sought-after
writer/producer/directors, mashing up genres and pushing the
creative envelope. His critically acclaimed film No One Will Save
You starring Kaitlyn Dever was released on Hulu in September 2023,
earning him a Critics Choice nomination for Best Movie Made for
Television, as well as a WGA Award nomination in the TV & New
Media Motion Picture category. Prior to that, he wrote, produced
and directed Spontaneous, produced Cocaine Bear, directed by
Elizabeth Banks for Universal, as well as the upcoming Borderline,
directed by Jimmy Warden and starring Samara Weaving. He will also
co-write, direct, and produce Whalefall for 20th Century Studios
and Imagine Entertainment, based on the recently published novel by
Daniel Kraus.
"I'll never forget seeing Coraline on opening night at the AMC
Burbank 16 and wondering who these wonderful new geniuses were,”
said Duffield. “I can't wait to make a movie with them and
hopefully live up to their banner, and I couldn't be more excited
to get to go on a new adventure with my friends at Lord
Miller."
“We’re so excited to keep collaborating with our friend Brian
Duffield who has written a script that is endlessly imaginative,
funny and romantic,” said Chris Miller and Phil Lord. “We have long
been fans of LAIKA and Travis Knight’s groundbreaking work in
animation and could not be more excited to join forces with them in
live action.”
Brian Duffield is represented by UTA, Circle of Confusion, and
Behr Abramson Levy Johnson. Lord and Miller are represented by UTA
and Ziffren Brittenham.
About LORD MILLER
Headed by Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris
Miller, the film and television production house Lord Miller has
cemented itself as a Hollywood staple for pushing boundaries of
what is possible in original comedy, live-action, and animation.
Feature franchises originated by Lord Miller include the
Spider-Verse movies, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22
Jump Street, and The Lego Movies. Collectively, their film projects
have grossed more than $3.9 billion at the global box office,
proving the pair’s extraordinary range and ability to deliver on
compelling ideas. Other films produced by Lord Miller include the
Academy Award®-nominated feature The Mitchells vs. the Machines and
Cocaine Bear. Lord Miller’s next feature is Project Hail Mary. Lord
and Miller direct and produce along with Aditya Sood. The feature
is set for theatrical release on March 20, 2026. The company has
several projects in various stages of development including the
live-action feature tent-pole The Last Human for Sony, Fox’s
Artemis, based on the novel by Andy Weir, a feature adaptation of
Michael Lewis’ best-selling novel The Premonition: A Pandemic
Story, Everyday Parenting Tips starring Ryan Reynolds, which is
based on Simon Rich’s New Yorker short story, and 48 Hours in Vegas
about Dennis Rodman’s legendary trip to Las Vegas during the
Chicago Bulls’ 1998 NBA finals appearance.
On the television side, Lord Miller is behind The Afterparty.
The series was created, written and directed by Miller with Lord as
executive producer. Lord Miller also produced the modern refresh of
their critically acclaimed animated comedy series Clone High for
Max. The company is in development on a slate of live-action and
animated series in both comedy and drama, including a suite of
television series based on Sony’s Marvel Characters. The company is
headed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, Aditya Sood serves as
President, Dan Sheer as Head of Television.
About LAIKA
LAIKA was founded in 2005 in Oregon by President & CEO
Travis Knight. The studio’s five films Coraline (2009), ParaNorman
(2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and
Missing Link (2019) have all been nominated for the Academy Award®
for Outstanding Animated Feature. Kubo and the Two Strings won the
BAFTA® Award for Best Animated Film and received an additional
Oscar® nomination for Visual Effects. Missing Link was awarded the
Golden Globe® for Best Animated Film. LAIKA was awarded a
Scientific and Technology Oscar® in 2016 for its innovation in 3D
printing. LAIKA is currently in production on its next animated
film Wildwood. The studio is developing the animated feature films
The Night Gardener, from an original idea by Bill Dubuque, creator
of the hit series Ozark, and Piranesi, based on the NYT bestselling
novel by Susanna Clarke. LAIKA has launched a Live Action
subsidiary with a range of projects in development including a
feature film based on the action thriller novel Seventeen by
screenwriter John Brownlow. www.laika.com
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Maggie Begley/MBC Maggie@mbcprinc.com; 310.749.3055