Wendell & Wild is an upcoming animated film coming to Netflix in October 2022! The iconic comedy pair Jordan Peele, 43, and Keegan-Michael Key, 51, star in the film as the two main characters. The film is based on the book by Henry Selick, 69, who also brought audiences the Halloween cult classics The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline.
The upcoming Halloween flick is rated PG-13 and has a total runtime of one hour and 45 minutes, per the movie’s IMDb page. Netflix released the official trailer for Wendell & Wild on Sept. 6, 2022, just one month before its Oct. release. You can watch the official teaser above! On Sept. 6, the producer of the film, Jordan, took to Twitter to post the trailer. He captioned the teaser with just an evil face emoji. Below is everything you need to know about Wendell & Wild!
Where and When to Watch
Audiences can watch Jordan’s latest project on Netflix starting Oct. 28, 2022, just three days before the Halloween holiday. Netflix is the only studio and distributor attached to the film. On Aug. 30, 2022, Netflix officially announced the release for the spooky film via their official blog. Jordan and Keegan’s characters Wendell and Wild set out on “a quest to enter the world of the living,” according to the blog.
Even a full month ahead of it’s release, Wendell & Wild is already generating Oscar buzz! Since Henry’s Coraline earned a best animated feature nomination at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010, and Jordan is bringing his Oscar-winning writing, Wendell & Wild is likely to be a contender. It also was the only animated film to be selected in the lineup at this year’s TIFF, according to Cartoon Brew. The film will not only be released on the streaming platform on Oct. 28, but will also premiere in select theatres across the United States starting Oct. 21.
Cast and Crew
Wendell & Wild will star Key and Peele actors Jordan and Keegan! Jordan, who is also a producer and writer on the film, will voice the character of Wild, with Keegan voicing Wendell. Resident Evil star Tamara Smart will also join the cast in the role of Siobhan, and This Is Us star Lyric Ross will take on the main role of Kat Elliot. Also joining the cast of the project is Black Panther‘s Angela Bassett, Never Have I Ever star Ramona Young, and Mission Impossible‘s Ving Rhames.
Angela is set to play one of the film’s most titular roles as the character of Sister Helley. Ramona will play Sweetie, and Ving will take on the character of Buffalo Belzer.
Who is the Creative Team?
Jordan co-authored the screenplay along with Henry , Keegan, and Clay McLeod Chapman. Clay is an author known for his books Whisper Down the Lane, Ghost Eaters, and more. Henry, who directed both The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, returns to the directors chair for Wendell & Wild. The Netflix project is also based on the book by both Henry and Clay.
Plot Information
The Netflix Halloween film will see the character Kat, help Wendell and Wild attempt to enter the world of the living after escaping the hellish trap of Buffalo Belzer’s scalp. In the trailer for the film, Kat says, “Everyone’s got demons. My demons have names”, hinting that Wendell and Wild are her very own demons. “It was inspired by my sons when they were little and they were, you know, demonic at times,” Henry told Tudum during an interview. “I found out about [Key & Peele] and started watching the first couple of seasons,” he told the outlet. “And I pitched a few things, including Wendell & Wild, because it’s sort of like, Wendell and Wild, Key and Peele. It just seemed like a natural fit.” He also called the casting of Jordan and Keegan a “reunion of them as a comedy duo” and thus wanted their characters to also be “caricatures of Key and Peele.”