‘Ray Gunn’ Brings Brad Bird’s Upcoming Animation Into a Grittier Noir World

Netflix revealed the first trailer for Brad Bird’s latest animated movie, Ray Gunn. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Waits. The film is scheduled for release on the platform on December 18.

The noir film tells the story of Ray Gunn and is set in Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future inhabited by aliens and humans, with its retrofuturist architecture and style inspired by the 1930s.

According to Direct, Bird has intentionally chosen Netflix over iconic animation company Pixar for the film due to its mature themes.

“I never pitched this movie at Pixar because I wanted it to be a little more aimed at adults than what I thought Pixar would be mainly interested in,” Bird says.

Brad Bird is known for award-winning animated films such as The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Incredibles 2.

Elijah Pareño

Music Writer

Elijah Pareño is the Music Writer of Rolling Stone Philippines. He writes daily music news, features, reviews, and radar stories of the website.

In addition to music writing, Pareño has written about the behind-the-scenes writers and producers from the P-pop scene, interviewed hip-hop artists like Shanti Dope and Zae, and featured up-and-coming artists for the Music Forecast 2026. Aside from music, Pareño has written about the state of affairs that affects pop culture. He wrote a movie review for 'Mortal Kombat II' and reported and interviewed photojournalists at the September 21, 2025 protests in Luneta and Mendiola.

Prior to working in Rolling Stone Philippines, Pareño was a freelance writer for 3 years and independent live music promoter

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• In This Article:
• Brad Bird
• Ray Gunn