Thirty years in Bird's notebook, Ray Gunn finally becomes a film. Sam Rockwell plays the last human detective in Metropia.

Brad Bird's Ray Gunn has been in development since the 1990s, when Bird first conceived the project for Turner Feature Animation before shelving it to direct The Iron Giant. After negotiating the rights back from Warner Bros., Bird revived the project in 2021 with Skydance Animation. Netflix has now released the first trailer, confirming a December 4 limited 70mm theatrical release in select theaters and a December 18 streaming debut.

The film is an animated sci-fi noir set in Metropia, a sprawling city of humans and aliens rendered through a 1939 lens. Sam Rockwell voices Raymond "Ray" Gunn, the last human private detective, pulled into a murder case that leads him to Venus Nova, a multimedia star voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Tom Waits plays Eyera, Gunn's alien colleague. Matt Berry voices Slugsy Xavier, an alien mob boss. The supporting cast includes Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk, Michael Chernus, Patton Oswalt, and Kathryn Hunter.

Ray Gunn is Bird's first directorial effort since Incredibles 2 in 2018. The project carries a budget above $150 million and was animated by Skydance Animation and Cinesite. Michael Giacchino composed the score. A world premiere is scheduled for the BFI London Film Festival on October 10, over a month before the theatrical run begins.

The 70mm theatrical window mirrors a strategy increasingly common for high-profile prestige releases: a brief, format-specific run before the streaming date arrives. What's unusual here is the source material. A pulpy detective noir conceived before The Iron Giant, shelved, reclaimed, and now arriving over thirty years after the first sketches. The film's own production history almost reads like a case Gunn would take.