Brad Bird, the director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille, has a new animated movie coming to Netflix, and the first trailer looks fantastic. Titled Ray Gunn (not to be confused with the infamous breakdancer), the film follows one of the last human detectives in a futuristic world where aliens and humans live alongside each other.
Raymond Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell) is recruited to find out whether singer Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson) is responsible for murder. As we can see in the trailer, it’s not a simple case for Gunn as he falls into Nova’s orbit and sparks fly. He’s helped along the way by his alien co-worker Eyera (Tom Waits), as they try to navigate being the “only honest players in a crooked game”.
There’s elements of Star Wars and Blade Runner in there through the beautifully realized sci-fi city as well as callbacks to classic detective movies. The result looks like a fun adventure from one of the most visionary directors working in animation today. Count us in.
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“It was always meant to be a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the ’40s,” Bird told Netflix’s Tudum. “The elevator pitch I came up with is The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers.”
The Iron Giant director also explained how he hopes the film widens the audience for animation with the movie: “There’s a big chunk of people who don’t watch animation,” Bird continued. “That’s a group I’m anxious to persuade because it’s an amazing art form that is way too limited in people’s minds.”
The movie is set to open in select theaters on December 4 before arriving on Netflix on December 18. For more on the streaming platform, check out our guides to the best movies on Netflix and the best shows on Netflix to watch right now.
