In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).
Ray Gunn is a long-gestating passion project from two-time Academy Award winner Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille), and features a high-profile voice cast led by Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Waits.
Bird explains the convoluted path the film took to get to its intended audience:
Ray Gunn has been in my mind for over 30 years. The film is a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the ’40s…it’s Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers. I’ve been a fan of both of those sort of genres, and blending them together seemed fun, and a chance to play with a lot of very cinematic elements, and extreme characters.
The director also emphasized his broader ambitions for his film and the larger medium:
There’s a big chunk of people who don’t watch animation. 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. Animation as a medium is too interesting to limit what kind of stories can be told.
First announced in February of 2022, and set for release December 18, 2026, the film is Skydance’s most hyped to date and one of Netflix’s biggest-ever animated releases. The important voices in this film are Scarlett Johansson as Venus Nova, Sam Rockwell as Raymond Gunn, Tom Waits as Eyera, and addition voices by John Ratzenberger, Brad Bird and Jimmy Costa.
The film is directed by Brad Bird, and written by Bird and Matthew Robbins. It’s produced by Bird, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Lisa Beroud and John Lasseter. There’s a soundtrack by Michael Giacchino. The animation is by Cinesite Animation of London, England.
Watch Ray Gunn – in select theaters December 4 and on Netflix.
