| Release Date: | February 6th, 2009 |
| Cast: | Voices of: Dakota Fanning as Coraline, Teri Hatcher as Coraline's Mother (dual), Dawn French as Old Lady #1, Jennifer Saunders as Old Lady #2 |
| Director: | Henry Selick and Mike Cachuela |
| Screen Writer(s): | Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick |
| Official Site: | TBA |
| Trailers: | None |
| Status: | In Production |
| Synopsis/Plot: | The story centers on a young girl (Fanning) who discovers an alternate version of her life after walking through a secret door in her new home. On the surface, this parallel reality is similar to her real life, only much better. The adventure turns dangerous, however, when the girl's counterfeit parents try to keep her forever. The film will be entirely stop-motion animation ala Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. |
| News and Rumors: |
June 25, 2008: Variety is reporting that Nike mogul Phil Knight’s Laika animation studio and Focus Pictures have settled on February 6th, 2009 as the date for the wide release of the stop-motion animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. Coraline, which was directed by Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas) is Laika’s first production, and it will get a limited release in December so that it will be able to compete for the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2009. Coraline features a top flight vocal cast including Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) and wunderkind Dakota Fanning. Gaiman’s beloved children’s novel, which features evocative illustrations by Dave McKean, has sold over 130,000 copies in hardcover alone. It is also out in paperback and Harper Collins has just published a hardcover graphic novel adaptation by P. Craig Russell.
December 27, 2007: Neil Gaiman has released a "sneak peek at some early, not-quite-final footage straight from the studio". You can check that out here! No release date has been announced.
July 23, 2006: Brit comediennes Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will play the voices of the old ladies in the Henry Selick- directed stop motion flick "Coraline" and Dakota Fanning will play the title role.
May 24, 2006: Teri Hatcher will voice a dual role opposite Dakota Fanning in "Coraline," the first animated film from Laika Entertainment says The Hollywood Reporter. Director Henry Selick's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 2002 international best-seller follows the young Coraline as she steps into a world that appears to be a much better version of her own reality. However, when her artificial parents attempt to keep her there forever, she must escape the dangerous situation and take a brave journey to get back home. Hatcher plays both the mother of the title character (voiced by Fanning) and her other mother in a parallel universe. Focus Features will distribute globally.
May 19, 2006: Focus Features has picked up world rights to the stop-motion film Coraline from Laika Entertainment, the Oregon-based animation company owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, reports Variety. The film -- based on the book by Neil Gaiman, and toplining the voice talent of Dakota Fanning -- follows a young girl who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. Laika supervising director Henry Selick adapted the novel for the big screen and will co-direct with Mike Cachuela. Selick's previous directing credits include James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Pandemonium Films topper Bill Mechanic is producing with Laika's Mary Sandell. They Might Be Giants are writing songs for the film.
October 22, 2005: Dakota Fanning has signed on to voice the title character in Laika Entertainment's animated feature "Coraline" says The Hollywood Reporter. Henry Selick ("Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," "James and the Giant Peach") is writing and directing the film, based on the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman. Bill Mechanic will produce. The story centers on a young girl (Fanning) who discovers an alternate version of her life after walking through a secret door in her new home. On the surface, this parallel reality is similar to her real life, only much better. The adventure turns dangerous, however, when the girl's counterfeit parents try to keep her forever. -Thanks to 'DarkHorizons' for the news!
July 21, 2005: Variety says Vinton Studios is changing its name to Laika Entertainment and is moving into production on its first CG-animated feature, Coraline, to be directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas helmer Henry Selick and produced by former Fox executive Bill Mechanic. Coraline is based on Neil Gaiman's Hugo Award-winning, best-selling children's book. Coraline is a young bored girl who discovers that bricked-up wall behind a door in her flat leads to another world, with another mother, and another father. Selick also wrote the film's screenplay.
September 22, 2004: Author Neil Gaiman has announced in his latest column that the film option for his novel "Coraline" has been exercised. Here's Gaiman in his own words:
"In this case, the person making the film is Henry Selick, who will be making an entirely stop-motion version of CORALINE (all stop-motion, like his most famous film, TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, which some people mistakenly think that Tim Burton wrote or directed). Henry and I got to talk last night. It's been a long few years -- Henry read the book a year before it was published, and has been holding his breath for the last six months to find out what would happen. Right now he has ideas about, well, everything really, from the cast to the songs. He wants it to be faithful and funny and smart and spooky. I've told him he can use me, bounce ideas off me, or whatever, but that ultimately it's his movie. I just want to sit in the audience at the premiere, with a thing of popcorn on my lap, grinning like a goof"
