Annecy 2026 – Brad Bird launches his Ray Gunn: “We have to bet on new ideas” (interview)

Meeting with the brilliant director, who is putting the final touches on this animated film that has been in the works for three decades.

After the astonishing first images of Ray Gunn, presented by Netflix exclusively at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival a few days ago, Première had the opportunity to speak with Brad Bird about this film that he has dreamed of for over thirty years. Encounter.

Premiere: I must first of all tell you that I was delighted to discover a film whose aesthetic was not a derivative of Spider-VerseofArcana or photorealistic 3D. This is reassuring: it is therefore still possible to create new visual imaginations in animation.
Brad Bird: Ah ah, yes, it’s possible, I confirm!

How do you escape the influences around you?
By looking for other, older ones. Particularly when looking at the work of designers that I admire a lot: Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Hugh Ferriss… There are many others. We also watched a lot of old movies and series, including crazy things like Buck Rogers. It’s kitsch, and Ray Gunn is also, voluntarily, in certain aspects. But imagine The Maltese Falcon transposed into the future of Buck Rogers : not bad, right?

I also thought a lot about Big Sleephas The Ultimate Razzia by Kubrick – a dark film, but magnificently filmed, with extraordinary lighting -, Citizen KaneAt Third Man… Even Casablancawhich is not really a film noir but a romance, is superbly filmed. Ah, and then obviously Chinatownwhich is quite simply one of the best films ever made. It is at the door of these films that we wanted to knock.

On Chinatownyou say you really like the fact that it’s a film noir in broad daylight. A concept that we find in Ray Gunn?
Yes, there are passages that take place in broad daylight. In fact, the idea is also to say that film noir can be larger than we imagine. People spontaneously think of the night, of very strong shadows, of wet streets, of neon lights, of desperate characters… But the genre does not have to be limited to that. To return to Chinatownthe story talks about a drought caused by man: there are dry rivers, empty banks. It’s also a powerful image.

This film is great because its hero, a detective who always sticks his nose in other people’s business, gets his nose cut off. He spends half the film with a huge hard-on: that’s the price he pays for being ” nosy », nosy. It’s a very cinematic choice, and it also makes the character endearing, because there is no vanity in him. He wears this big unsightly bandage and plays romantic scenes with Faye Dunaway. I find it simply brilliant. If we can even get close to this level, it won’t be bad!

Ray Gunn also looks very funny. How important is humor to you? Is this also a way of ensuring that we speak to a wider audience?
I wish I could be that calculating, but that’s not how it works. When humor seems natural to me, I want to put it in the film. When Woody Allen decided to make serious films, they weren’t always as good as they used to be. He’s a naturally funny person, and when he deliberately chose to sideline that part of himself in his films, you felt it. Conversely, he could make a totally serious film, like Crimes and Misdemeanorsand elevate it a little more by injecting humor.

I wanted us to be able to laugh in front Ray Gunnbut when humor arises naturally. We never ask ourselves what the public will like, but whether our team will like it.

Ray Gunn is a project that you have been carrying out for over thirty years…
Certainly, but I didn’t wait for it for thirty years. I moved forward, made other films. But, at some point, Warner Bros. wanted to work with me again and I told them, “ That’s good, you have a project of mine that I would like to shoot. » They were astonished: “ Ah good ? We have a project of yours? » « Yes, it’s in that binder over there. I would like it back. » So we made an agreement: if they didn’t want to do Ray GunnI could take it back and go see another studio. That’s how I ended up at Skydance Animation.

Where you found John Lasseter, with whom you worked for a long time at Pixar…
It wasn’t just for John that I went there. I had already done Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with Skydance, so I was not in unknown territory…

And finally Ray Gunn will be broadcast on Netflix. A first for you, who are used to the cinema.
We designed the film for the big screen, the biggest screen possible. That’s how I’d like people to experience it, with the best sound system possible, because we have an incredible Dolby Atmos mix. It is a medium of dreams, and this dream must be powerful. But the most important thing is that Netflix supported us. They bet on us and allowed us to make a great original film, which has become very difficult today.

As soon as budgets are large, most people only want to finance things that are already known: a remake, a reboot, a sequel or a prequel… It always has to be linked to something that already exists. And then there is this awful notion of intellectual property, of franchises…

Yet you made a sequel to Incrediblesand a third is in preparation! It’s a franchise.
But I’m not opposed to sequels and, in fact, many of my favorite films are sequels. I made two Incredibles I’m writing and producing the third one, but I’m not directing it. But that can’t be the only option on the menu. This is where I differ with the studios: they should consider original films as research and development. You can’t just have twenty ideas, and that’s it. There must be room for something else. Studios should start taking big risks again and betting on new ideas, because that’s how the franchises of tomorrow are born.

Within seven minutes of Ray Gunn that we were able to discover in Annecy, I was particularly struck by the speed with which you introduce this universe: in a few seconds, we understand the rules, while being immediately drawn into the action. How do you approach the beginning of a film?
I just rely on the things I like. When someone knows how to launch a film in a way that is both elegant and effective, that inspires a lot of respect in me. I gave a talk seven or eight years ago – my God, was that really that long ago? – on film openings. I showed the original opening of True Gritthe one with John Wayne, then the first scene of the Coen brothers’ version. And with all respect to Henry Hathaway, the Coen brothers’ opening is perfect. It’s a single shot: the snow is falling, and the camera approaches something without us yet knowing what it is. The voice-over sets the mood, then we gradually understand that the camera is approaching a body lying on the ground. This person is the one the heroes will seek out.

You are immediately immersed in the story, you are invested, you feel the pain of the moment. But there is also poetry. And you say to yourself: “ Damn, I’m there. » That’s what excites me. When I think about my first scene, the question is always: how do I do something as elegant as that?

Except that in Ray Gunnthere are at the same time buildings, trains, taxis, passers-by and a whole host of details… A different kettle of fish.
The idea was that the city would also be a character. There is the introduction of individual characters, but the environment can also become a character. We first discover the city, immense, vertical, then this woman projected on the screen, played by Scarlett Johansson, who says: “ Welcome to the future. » It was, I hope, a good way to start hostilities.

What’s next for you? A return to live action?
I hope my next project will be a live action film, but with a little animation. I am also a screenwriter and producer on The Incredibles 3but after that, I hope to be able to carry out this project in live action.

Can we find out more?
No (Laughs.) Ray Gunn took too long to make, so I don’t want to jinx myself by saying too much. All I hope is that it doesn’t take thirty years!

Ray Gunn, December 18, 2026 on Netflix.