The stop-motion wizards at Laika have reliably brought us entertainment in the last few years, and the team is busy finishing its latest creation, Kubo And The Two Strings. A new trailer has just landed online and can be seen below.
The film features Art Parkinson as the clever and kind-hearted Kubo, who lives quietly telling fantastical stories to people in his seaside town. But when he accidentally summons a mythical, ancient spirit that is pursuing an age-old vendetta, Kubo has to go on the run. He joins forces with Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) for a quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his father’s death. With his shamisen (a magical musical instrument), Kobo will have to battle gods and monsters.
The largely Western cast seems unusual given its Asian setting, and the company could face questions about its choices, which also include includes Ralph Fiennes (back on bad guy duty), George Takei, Rooney Mara, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagwa and Brenda Vaccaro. Visually, however, it certainly promises some spectacle, looking sometimes like paper sculpture come to vivid life.
Directed by company boss Travis Knight with a script Chris Butler and Marc Haimes, Kubo And The Two Strings is out in the UK on September 9.