Legendary Stop-Motion Director Henry Selick Is Making A Spiritual Successor To Coraline

In what should be an instance of internet-breaking news that would grind the work day to a halt as much as any "Deadpool" trailer does, a living legend has announced that he's developing a new, buzzy-sounding project — one that he describes as a sort of companion piece to arguably one of his greatest movies ever. Filmmaker and stop-motion expert Henry Selick is somehow both an unqualified titan in the industry and an under-appreciated talent at the same time. (Please stop assuming that Tim Burton was the one who directed "The Nightmare Before Christmas," for the love of the film gods.) But even after delivering the excellent "Wendell & Wild" in 2022 without the fanfare he deserved, Selick is now setting his sights on his next venture ... and it's thematically linked to everyone's favorite button-eyed nightmare, "Coraline."

In a late-breaking bit of news, Variety reported last night that Selick is setting his sights on an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 2013 novel, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane." What's more, he actually explained that this will unfold as "almost a sequel" to "Coraline," though it's almost an inverse storyline to the 2009 stop-motion animated classic. As he put it:

"Instead of a child going to this other world with a monstrous mother, it's a monstrous mother who comes into our world to wreak havoc on a kid's life."

Selick confirmed that he's working closely with Gaiman on this film, shopping the project around to potential producers and distributors on the strength of a 35-page treatment and, of course, all sorts of dazzling concept art. (Selick reportedly hinted that ShadowMachine, the studio behind "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio," is interested.) As if that wasn't exciting enough, Selick is also hoping to resurrect a long-dead passion project as well.

It should come as no surprise that a stop-motion savant would also be an expert in the art of multitasking. Henry Selick is not only lining up his next feature film with "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," but he's also revealed that a canceled production he spent years trying to get off the ground, "The Shadow King," might have a comeback for the ages in store. Animation fans have long dreamed about the potential of the original story that was never to be, described as:

[...] A deliciously magical tale about nine-year-old New York orphan Hap who hides his fantastically weird hands with long fingers from a cruel world. But when a living shadow girl teaches him to make amazing hand shadows that come to life, his hands become incredible weapons in a shadow war against a ravenous monster bent on killing Hap's brother Richard and ultimately destroying New York.

Disney infamously bailed on the production in 2012 and, despite some promising updates over the years (even going so far as to begin voice casting), the film never quite came together. But even as the most loyal of fans may have given up on "The Shadow King" ever seeing the light of day, Selick apparently never stopped trying to make it happen. According to Variety, he appeared at this year's ongoing Annecy Animation Festival and mentioned his plans to release the story as an original graphic novel. Should this garner enough interest in a film adaptation, he'd potentially hand it off to a new director.

A full five minutes of the unfinished movie are actually available for anyone to watch online, but hopefully this time, Selick is given the resources to finish the job.