Brad Bird’s 30-Year Passion Project ‘Ray Gunn’ Releases First Trailer

Avatar photoHrvoje Milakovic
RAY GUNN 1
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Few animated films boast a development history as legendary as Brad Bird’s latest endeavor. The acclaimed director, known for creating some of the most cherished animated features over the past thirty years, has spent years nurturing an idea that faced numerous delays before finally finding its way to the screen. That long wait is now officially over.

Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for ‘Ray Gunn,’ the long-awaited animated neo-noir from the visionary behind ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Ratatouille.’ This project has reportedly been brewing in Bird’s mind for over 30 years, making its debut one of the most eagerly anticipated animation events of the year for devoted fans.

Set in Metropia, a vast city envisioned as an alternate future from the perspective of 1939, the film follows private investigator Raymond Gunn as he becomes embroiled in a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. Bird has characterized the film’s tone as “Buck Rogers meets The Maltese Falcon,” a combination reflected in the film’s striking Art Deco cityscape and its hard-boiled detective narrative.

Sam Rockwell stars as Ray Gunn, a small-time private eye in a world where machines dominate detective work. Scarlett Johansson lends her voice to Venus Nova, the world’s most famous pop star whose scandals threaten her career, while Tom Waits voices Eyera, a one-eyed alien who acts as Ray’s closest ally. The film features a remarkable voice cast, including Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Michelle Rodriguez, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Justin Peck, and Patton Oswalt.

Johansson expressed her excitement about collaborating with Bird, calling it a career highlight. “I have loved his work my entire life. This project is so uniquely special because it is a total realization of where Brad is currently on his artistic journey. I can’t wait for audiences to see this extraordinary animation that looks like nothing else out there,” she stated in comments shared with Netflix’s Tudum. Bird also praised Rockwell’s performance, noting that it sets “a bar to reach in terms of performance” for the animators.

‘Ray Gunn’ marks Bird’s first animated feature outside of Pixar since ‘The Iron Giant’ in 1999, a significant shift given his long-standing relationship with the studio, where he continues to write and produce a third ‘Incredibles’ film. Bird explained that the decision to take ‘Ray Gunn’ elsewhere was intentional, aimed at reaching a slightly different, more adult audience than Pixar typically serves. “I wanted it to go to a slightly different audience, and I wanted there to be a huge amount of overlap, obviously. The Pixar audience is wide, and I love that, and I love working with Pixar,” Bird mentioned in an interview with IndieWire.

This distinction aligns with the film’s official rating, which the Motion Picture Association has classified as PG for violence, action, language, some suggestive material, and thematic elements, a notably more mature rating than most mainstream animated family films typically receive. The production also boasts a substantial budget of over $150 million, reflecting Skydance Animation’s ambitions for the project.

‘Ray Gunn’ will premiere in select theaters, including a limited number of 70mm screenings, on December 4, before arriving on Netflix on December 18. This theatrical release provides the film with a genuine big-screen showcase prior to reaching the streaming platform’s global audience, a strategy reminiscent of the prestige positioning usually reserved for awards-season contenders rather than standard streaming originals.

With Michael Giacchino composing the score and original songs from Kimbra enhancing the soundtrack, ‘Ray Gunn’ is set to be one of the most distinctive animated releases of the year, both visually and musically. After three decades of false starts, Bird’s passion project is finally ready to captivate audiences.

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