Claim: Where the Wild Things Are was released in a book.

Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonze . Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers , it is adapted from Maurice Sendak 's 1963 children 's book of the same name . It combines live-action , performers in costumes , animatronics , and computer-generated imagery -LRB- CGI -RRB- . The film stars Max Records and features the voices of James Gandolfini , Paul Dano , Lauren Ambrose , Forest Whitaker , Catherine O'Hara , and Chris Cooper . The film centers on a lonely eight-year-old boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the `` Wild Things , '' who declare Max their king .   In the early 1980s , Disney considered adapting the film as a blend of traditionally animated characters and computer-generated environments , but development did not go past a test film to see how the animation hybridizing would result . In 2001 , Universal Studios acquired rights to the book 's adaptation and initially attempted to develop a computer-animated adaptation with Disney animator Eric Goldberg , but the CGI concept was replaced with a live-action one in 2003 , and Goldberg was dropped for Spike Jonze . The film was co-produced by actor Tom Hanks through his production company Playtone and made on an estimated budget of $ 100 million . Where the Wild Things Are was a joint production between Australia , Germany , and the United States , and was filmed principally in Melbourne .   The film was released on October 16 , 2009 , in the United States , on December 3 in Australia , and on December 17 in Germany . The film was met with mostly positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists . The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2 , 2010 .