Two big movies are on the slate for Brad Bird, including a decades-long passion project – Ray Gunn – and The Incredibles 3.
The last couple of days have brought us some big news regarding filmmaker Brad Bird’s upcoming slate.
The director of The Iron Giant has two huge films in the pipeline, including a project that he’s been looking to get off the ground for a very long time. That project is Ray Gunn, which according to The Wrap is now in production. The film is the story of ‘the story of the last human private detective, Raymund Gunn, in a future world composed of humans and aliens.’
The route to production for this project has been a slow one, with Bird having laboured to make it a reality for many years now.
The shifting sands of production deals hasn’t helped: the film has been set up at Skydance Animation for some time, but the breakdown in Skydance’s relationship with Apple last year was said to be partly over this project, with Apple arguing that its reported $150m budget was too expensive.
Skydance Animation would instead forge a new deal with Netflix, where it seems the project has now been given the go-ahead.
The film is now in production although it looks like Bird might have had to make some considerable changes. What was once conceived as a hand-drawn animation is reportedly now CG, whilst the report states that the production had to go through plenty of oversight and scrutiny. Still, it’s happening and that is surely good news.
Even while he’s working on Ray Gunn, Bird will also be turning his attention to The Incredibles 3, which is now in active development.
The filmmaker was named as being involved in Pixar’s superhero series at D23 this past weekend. While he wasn’t named as the film’s director, his involvement is no surprise really: Bird has directed both of the prior entries in the popular franchise, and if his schedule allows, Pixar will be keen to acquire his services for the next chapter.
As for when we’ll see these projects: Ray Gunn is slated to arrive on Netflix in 2026, whilst The Incredibles 3 is currently set for a 2027 release. We’ll bring you more on these projects as we hear it.
