The film was produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Sendak, John Carls, and Vincent Landay, and made with an estimated budget of $100 million.

Eventually, Max reaches an island that is home to a group of seven large monsters called the Wild Things - namely, Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, the Bull, and KW.

When KW brings her two owl friends, Bob and Terry, to the fort, a disagreement ensues as Carol feels they are outsiders.

However, Douglas reveals the truth when Carol throws another tantrum in the middle of the night over the state of the fort and Max's failure to fulfill his duties as a king.

Angry, Carol rips off Douglas's right arm - though only sand pours from the wound - before chasing Max into the forest and attempting to kill him.

Returning home, Max is reunited with his mother, who gives him a bowl of soup, a piece of chocolate cake, and a glass of milk.

[5] In 2001, Universal replaced the live-action/CGI concept with a fully computer-animated adaptation, with Disney animator Eric Goldberg attached to direct.

[9] However, in 2003, they reverted back to live-action, and Goldberg was replaced with Spike Jonze,[10] who had previously collaborated with Sendak on an unproduced adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon, which eventually was released in 2024.

Academy Award-winning make-up effects supervisor Howard Berger (The Chronicles of Narnia) turned down offers to work on the film four times.

Jonze called the footage "a very early test... to see if our SFX plan for the faces would work," but early fan outcry over the video, along with rumored "scared children" in test audiences led Warner Bros. to delay the film's release for a year from its original 3 October 2008 release date.

We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience.

"[23] At the end of 2008, Jonze got together with Framestore in London to complete his film and work with them to bring to life the performances through their animation and special effects team.

During the film, various songs can be heard such as "Hideaway", "Rumpus", "Worried Shoes" and "All is Love" by Karen O, Zahida K, Anisa R K, and the Kids.

The beasts are recognizable from Sendak's pages, but Jonze gives them names and distinct personalities that connect to aspects of Max's psyche and to the people he loves.

They are vast, feathered, horned, clawed, beaked and definitely wild — irrational and dangerous, even when showing affection — and Jonze uses their threatening bulk as well as their capacity for cruelty to remind us that Max's taming of them is only temporary.

The studio decided not to position the film as a children's movie and spent 70% of the advertising on broad-based and adult-driven promotion.

[28] Early Friday box office estimates show the film earned about $32.7 million on its opening weekend in theaters.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Some may find its dark tone and slender narrative off-putting, but Spike Jonze's heartfelt adaptation of the classic children's book is as beautiful as it is uncompromising.

"[35] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

"[38] Manohla Dargis of the New York Times wrote that Spike Jonze's "filmmaking exceeds anything he's done" before, while also noting the imaginative visuals and otherworldly feel, along with the fantastic creature effects on the "Wild Things".

"[43] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com criticized the film's visual aspect, "Even the look of the picture becomes tiresome after a while — it starts to seem depressive and shaggy and tired."

She also stated that "The movie is so loaded with adult ideas about childhood — as opposed to things that might delight or engage an actual child.

[47] Jonze refused to compromise,[48] and Maurice Sendak said after having seen a completed cut of the film, "I've never seen a movie that looked or felt like this.

"[49] After seeing the finished product, a Warner Bros. executive stated of Jonze, "He's a perfectionist and just kept working on it, but now we know that at the end of the day he nailed it.

MPAA in the United States assessed a PG rating "for mild thematic elements, some adventure action, and brief language".

[59] Dan Fellman, Warner Brothers' head of movie distribution, noted that the film's promotion was not directed towards children, advising parents to exercise their own discretion.

[58] In an interview with Newsweek, Sendak stated that parents who deemed the film's content to be too disturbing for children should "go to hell.

[61] The home media release was accompanied by a Canadian-produced live-action/animated short film adaptation of another Sendak work, Higglety Pigglety Pop!

[62][63] A video game based on the film was released on 13 October 2009, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

[66] A series of collectible vinyl dolls of the Wild Things and Max was released from the Japanese company MediCom Toys.