Director Brad Bird Spent Over 30 Years Trying to Make “Ray Gunn”. Why He’s Not Ready to Talk About a Sequel (Exclusive)
Director Brad Bird Spent Over 30 Years Trying to Make “Ray Gunn”. Why He’s Not Ready to Talk About a Sequel (Exclusive)
Kirsten AcunaFri, November 13, 2026 at 9:36 PM UTC
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Brad Bird (left) is proud to finally see his dream project “Ray Gunn” (right) come to life.Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty; Skydance Animation -
Director Brad Bird first started developing the futuristic detective story Ray Gunn in the 1990s
Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson lead the voice cast in the noir-inspired animated film
Ray Gunn opens in select theaters Dec. 4 before arriving on Netflix Dec. 18
Director Brad Bird is finally seeing his passion project of more than 30 years on the big screen — and the wait has been worth it.
“It’s very gratifying to finally have it come out,” Bird, 69, exclusively tells PEOPLE of his upcoming animated film Ray Gunn. “I love having it done.”
The Oscar-winning director behind The Incredibles first dreamed up the idea for Skydance Animation’s futuristic noir, which follows private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) as he investigates a case involving a pop star (Scarlett Johansson), long before Pixar’s hit superhero film.
Barry Vogel (Alan Tudyk), Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson), and Ray Gunn (Sam Rockwell) in “Ray Gunn.”Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty; Skydance Animation
Bird tells PEOPLE that he shopped Ray Gunn around to other studios before finding a home for the project at Skydance Animation in 2021.
“You would get some indication that it might work out this time and then the management would change or the pandemic happens,” Bird says. “There’s always many sane reasons not to make a movie.”
“What you are looking for is somebody who’s crazy enough to make a movie,” he adds. “All of the films that we love went through that process.”
But after years of working to bring Ray Gunn to the screen, Bird says he isn’t quite ready to expand its universe, just yet.
Brad Bird speaks with PEOPLE at the “Ray Gunn” junket.Credit: People
When asked if he’s working on a sequel or spinoffs, Bird laughs it off.
“Oh my God, it took me decades to get this one. Don’t do this to me,” Bird says with a smile. “Give me a moment to heal.”
In September, Bird revealed during a post-screening Q&A for Ray Gunn in New York City with entertainment journalist Josh Horowitz that he initially planned to develop the detective film in the ‘90s at Turner Feature Animation before pivoting to his directorial debut, 1999’s animated cult classic The Iron Giant, featuring the voices of Vin Diesel and Jennifer Aniston.
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Josh Horowitz interviews BradCredit: Kirsten Acuna
“They didn’t want to make it,” Bird recalled. At the time, Time Warner acquired Turner Broadcasting System in 1996 and, in turn, its short-lived feature animation studio. “I was working for Turner. When it switched over, they didn’t want to make it, and they had three months of my contract left.”
Instead, Bird said he was asked whether he wanted to pursue another project from a lengthy list of ideas.
“They had like 45 of them, and I read The Iron Giant, and I liked that,” he added. “That’s sort of how that happened.”
A still from the Iron Giant featuring the titular robot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Hogarth Hughes, the boy who befriends him.Credit: Warner Bros.
While Bird went on to direct The Incredibles franchise, Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Ray Gunn remained in the back of his mind.
Describing the film as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers, Bird told Horowitz that he continued returning to the fictional world of Metropia simply because he “just liked the idea.”
Beneath the film’s layered detective mystery is a mature narrative about belonging and feeling alien in a potentially hostile world.
“An idea doesn’t become bad instantly because it didn’t get made right away,” Bird said at the September screening. “Sometimes, the right people aren’t running across it.”
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Ray Gunn, also starring the voices of Tom Waits, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez, Alan Tudyk and Patton Oswalt, will be in select theaters on Dec. 4 before it streams on Netflix on Dec. 18.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
