Some films take a weekend to greenlight. Ray Gunn took Brad Bird the better part of three decades. The director has been chasing his neo-noir passion project since before The Iron Giant hit screens in 1999, and the movie he cheerfully pitches as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers finally arrives on Netflix on December 18, 2026.
Bird is the rare filmmaker who can win Academy Awards for Ratatouille and The Incredibles and still have a dream project gathering dust for 30 years. The reason it never became a Pixar film is telling: he wanted something with a sharper edge and a darker palette than the studio’s heartfelt family fare. He also wanted it hand-drawn — a medium some keep insisting has gone out of style.
“I just love hand drawn and people are always trying to persuade me that it’s gone out of style,” Bird told Polygon at the Annecy Festival. “I consider hand-drawn to be as modern as you want it to be or not depending on what story you’re telling and how you tell it. It’s a great medium.”
The genre, at least, has aged gracefully. While Ray Gunn sat in development limbo, neo-noir science fiction flourished across Altered Carbon, The Expanse, and Blade Runner 2049. Bird’s logic for why it endures is hard to argue with: “Greed will always be current and the dark and positive side of technology will always be current. Those elements never go out of style.”
There’s one wrinkle, though, and it’s the kind that keeps directors up at night. Netflix is the only confirmed home for Ray Gunn, and Bird desperately wants audiences to experience it on the biggest screen possible first. He’s a vocal member of Cinema United, an advocacy group built around the theatrical experience, and he’s been lobbying the streamer for a proper big-screen run — pointing to the limited theatrical showings Netflix has given marquee titles like KPop Demon Hunters and the two-hour Stranger Things finale.
“I’m talking. I don’t know whether they’re listening,” Bird said with a laugh. He’s quick to credit Netflix for taking the gamble in the first place: “It exists because Netflix was willing to take a flyer on the idea and they’ve been tremendously supportive.”
If the streamer doesn’t budge, Bird’s backup plan is gloriously unhinged. “I would recommend you find the biggest screen you can, even if it’s down the street at your neighbor’s place,” he said. “Barge right in there and say, We’re seeing this movie because you have a big screen and that’s the way it should be seen.”
Whether you catch it in a theater, on a couch, or by storming a neighbor’s living room, Ray Gunn finally has a date. Mark December 18, 2026.
