A handful of stars, including Matthew McConaughey and Rooney Mara, are lending their voices to a newly announced Laika-Focus Features project, Kubo and the Two Strings. Deadline reports that the animated feature is the first in a three-film pact between the two companies, which together have already forged Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls. Set in a mythical, ancient Japan, Kubo tells the story of a humble village boy who, after bumping into an old spirit, must follow in the footsteps of his late father, a once-legendary samurai, by hunting down a magical suit of armor and tussling with gods and monsters. Laika’s top honcho Travis Knight is directing, and Marc Haimes and Chris Butler wrote the script. Also lending their voices are Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes, Brenda Vaccaro, and Art Parkinson (who voices the titular character). The movie, influenced by Japanese mythology and folktales, hits theaters August 2016 in a 3-D stop-motion/CG hybrid format. There’s apparently going to be some mystical origami, too — so all right, all right, all right to that.
