Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have shared the first trailer for the upcoming animated adaptation of Peter Brown’s award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Us star Lupita Nyong'o plays a shipwrecked robot — ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — who finds herself on an uninhabited island where she must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the various animals living in the area and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.
The trailer spotlights some stunning animation, as well as Nyong’o's rendition of Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World.”
The starry voice-cast also features Golden Globe nominee Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Fink the fox; Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Best in Show) as opossum Pinktail; Oscar nominee Bill Nighy (Living, Love Actually) as goose Longneck; Kit Connor (Heartstopper, Rocketman) as gosling Brightbill and Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fall Guy) as Vontra, a robot that will intersect with Roz’s life on the island.
The cast also includes Mark Hamill (Star Wars, The Boy and the Heron), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows, The SpongeBob Movie) and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible films, Pulp Fiction) in undisclosed supporting roles.
Check out the trailer below, along with a new poster and a more detailed synopsis.
"A powerful story about the discovery of self, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things, The Wild Robot is written and directed by three-time Oscar nominee Chris Sanders—the writer-director of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, and Disney’s Lilo & Stitch—and is produced by Jeff Hermann (DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby 2: Family Business; co-producer, Kung Fu Panda franchise).
Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, an illustrated middle-grade novel first published in 2016, became a phenomenon, rocketing to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book has since inspired a trilogy that now includes The Wild Robot Escapes and The Wild Robot Protects. Brown’s work on the Wild Robot series and his other bestselling books have earned him a Caldecott Honor, a Horn Book Award, two E.B. White Awards, two E.B. White Honors, a Children’s Choice Award for Illustrator of the Year, two Irma Black Honors, a Golden Kite Award and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award."
The Wild Robot hits theaters on September 20.