Brad Bird Talks Long-Gestating Passion Project ‘Ray Gunn’ & Portraying “Characters Who Are Desperate” In Utopia — Contenders London
- Director Brad Bird premiered his long-gestating project 'Ray Gunn' at the BFI London Film Festival today, October 10, 2026, marking the world debut of his 30-year passion project.
- Conceived over 30 years ago, the detective story moved to Skydance Animation and Netflix after Bird determined the film's mature themes were unsuitable for Pixar's traditional younger demographic.
- Featuring voice performances by Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson, the film utilizes an 80-piece orchestra score composed by longtime collaborator Michael Giacchino to evoke a 'Jetsons'-style retro future.
- Select theaters will screen the production starting December 4, ahead of its global debut on Netflix on December 18, targeting adult audiences rather than children.
- Within the fictional city of Metropia, Bird explores eternal themes of art and corporate greed, noting that these contemporary headline issues were central to his initial screenplay draft.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Brad Bird on Why He Took ‘Ray Gunn’ to Skydance Instead of Pixar: Making Animated Films for Teens and Adults ‘Shouldn’t Be a Controversial Decision’
Brad Bird says he never pitched 'Ray Gunn' to Pixar because 'I felt like it wasn't in Pixar's wheelhouse exactly,' he says.
‘Ray Gunn’ Review: Sam Rockwell & Scarlett Johansson Can’t Save Brad Bird’s Overstuffed, Retrofuturistic Noir
If any term defines Brad Bird’s style, it’s retrofuturism. The aesthetic carries an inherent contradiction: it tries to harmonize two disparate periods into a coherent fantasy. With his decades-gestating passion project “Ray Gunn,” the filmmaker might have finally met his match in two realms that prove impossible to straddle. On the one hand, this animated action film feels like a classic Hollywood detective story made for families. “Ray Gunn” f…
Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn Takes Viewers Back to the Future With This Fun Animated Love Letter to Film Noir and Retro Sci-Fi
Director Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn is a love letter to film noir and old-school science fiction, beautifully bringing its retro-futuristic world to life with great style and attention to detail.
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