Brad Bird's Ray Gunn premieres in London ahead of December Netflix launch
Netflix's animated feature Ray Gunn has had its first public screening, closing out its world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall during the London Film Festival on Saturday 10 October. The festival screening introduced director Brad Bird's long-gestating space detective story to an audience for the first time, according to Variety.
Bird leads the project, with music by Michael Giacchino. The film is a neo-noir science-fiction animation, meaning a detective story in the shadowy style of 1940s crime films, reset in a futuristic world.
Sam Rockwell voices Raymond "Ray" Gunn, a small-time private detective. Scarlett Johansson voices Venus Nova, a famous pop star. Tom Waits is also credited in the cast, according to the festival's programme listing for the 119-minute USA 2026 production, presented with courtesy credit to Netflix.
The night doubled as a birthday celebration. The premiere fell on Giacchino's birthday, and Bird invited Johansson and Rockwell on stage to lead the hall in singing Happy Birthday to the composer.
Bird told the audience the idea began with a misheard song. He said he mistook the B-52's 1979 track Planet Claire for Henry Mancini's Theme From Peter Gunn, and that musical mix-up sparked the film's blend of space adventure and detective noir.
Audiences will not have to wait long to see it. Ray Gunn will play in select theatres from 4 December before streaming on Netflix from 18 December.
What makes this stand out is how long the road has been. Netflix had already flagged Ray Gunn as part of its Next on Netflix Animation showcase at Annecy in June, according to Netflix. In London, it screened in the 70th BFI London Film Festival programme, a line-up of 251 titles from 88 countries across features, shorts, series and immersive works, according to the BFI. The festival also hosted a Screen Talk event with Bird, described by the BFI as an Oscar- and BAFTA-winning film-maker. The screenplay is credited to Bird and Matthew Robbins.
