Production notes

On April 25, 2018, it was announced that Laika had begun development on "Film Five," a new animated film written and directed by Chris Butler and starring Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldaña, and Zach Galifianakis. The film was set to be distributed by Annapurna Pictures in the United States. On May 7, 2018, it was announced that the film had been titled Missing Link and that additional voice actors would include Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Timothy Olyphant, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Ching Valdes-Aran, and Amrita Acharia. Production was reportedly underway by May 2018 with Laika's artists having constructed over 110 sets with 65 unique locations for the film. Overall, the budget was approximately $100 million.

On October 9, 2018, Carter Burwell was confirmed to score music for the film. The soundtrack was released on April 12, 2019, by Lakeshore Records, the same day as the theatrical release.

Missing Link grossed $16.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $26.2 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net loss of the film to be $101.3 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Little, Hellboy, and After, and was projected to gross around $10 million from 3,314 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after grossing $1.6 million on its first day (including $230,000 from Thursday night previews), it went on to debut to $5.9 million, finishing ninth at the box office and marking the 12th-worst opening for a film playing in over 3,000 theaters, the worst opening for a film playing in over 3,150 theaters, and the lowest start for a Laika film ever. In its second weekend the film dropped 27% to $4.4 million, finishing ninth.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 171 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Another beautifully animated triumph for Laika, Missing Link is a visual treat with lots of humor, plenty of heart, and even a little food for thought." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 81% and a "definite recommend" of 63%. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Sooner or later, Laika was bound to branch out, which makes this funnier, more colorful film the link previously missing between the company's Goth-styled past and whatever comes next." John Nugent of Empire Magazine praised the film, calling it "a charming family-friendly story about adventure and friendship—told with bar-raising artistic craft and technical skill. We'd expect nothing less from Laika."