Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Source: Eric Charbonneau. Getty Images for Sony Pictures

Phil Lord and Chris Miller

US-based stop-motion company Laika is bolstering its live-action pipeline and partnering with The LEGO Movie and Spider-Verse filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Crumble.

Brian Duffield wrote and will direct the story about a married couple who embark on a globe-trotting adventure in their quest to find a cure to an ancient curse.

Lord and Miller are producing alongside Aditya Sood through Lord Miller. Lucy Kitada and Nikki Baida of Lord Miller will serve as executive producers.

Duffield directed the 2023 sci-fi thriller No One Will Save You starring Kaitlyn Dever for Hulu as well as the 2020 coming-of-age horror comedy Spontaneous on Paramount+.

Laika president of live action film & series Matt Levin made the announcement on Tuesday and hailed Duffield’s “singular voice”, adding: “Lord Miller is in a class of its own and we could not ask for a better creative team to bring this story to life.”

Lord and Miller added, “We’re so excited to keep collaborating with our friend Brian Duffield who has written a script that is endlessly imaginative, funny and romantic. We have long been fans of Laika and Travis Knight’s groundbreaking work in animation and could not be more excited to join forces with them in live action.”

Laika’s live-action subsidiary has a range of projects in development including a feature based on the action thriller novel Seventeen by screenwriter John Brownlow. The company’s anmation titles include Kubo And The Two Strings, Coraline, and The Boxtrolls.