Time to touch the sky, Wild Robot fans. News of its sequel is finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Released in 2024, The Wild Robot was io9’s pick for the best film of that year. Based on a novel by Peter Brown and written and directed by animation legend Chris Sanders, it’s a stunning work and brought us immense joy. Now, the Wrap reports that Brown’s second book in the series, The Wild Robot Escapes, is in development from DreamWorks Animation, but Sanders won’t return to direct. He’s adapting the screenplay and handing the reins to Troy Quane, one of the directors who made Nimona. The head of story on the first film, Heidi Jo Gilbert, will be a co-director.
That first film, which featured Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of Roz, along with Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, and the late, great Catherine O’Hara, ended in a very fitting, conclusive way, but there’s always room for more story. In the second novel, Roz is assigned to a dairy farm, where she eventually reveals to the animals there that she’s more than just a robot. Things take a turn, and her son Brightbill returns to help save her and the other animals.
No word yet on who might be returning voice-wise, but you can’t really make the movie without Nyong’o as Roz. Whatever the case, though, as super fans of the original film, this is great news. It’s certainly a bummer that Sanders won’t be directing again, but at least he’s writing. Plus, he is kind of famous for directing iconic animated films only to turn them over to other artists for the sequels. (See also Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Croods.) We just can’t wait to spend more time with these characters again, and, hopefully, the sequel captures just an ounce of the magic of the original.
By the way, if you haven’t seen the original, get on that right now. It’s a masterpiece. It’s currently on Netflix, for a little while longer at least.
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