Annecy 2026: we saw the first images of Ghostbusters, One Piece and Ray Gunn (potential masterpiece)
Netflix is back in Annecy and is focusing more than ever on animation, particularly with the presence of Brad Bird’s next film.
Like every year now, Netflix is making its big splash at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and is coming to present what will shake up the streaming platform in the months to come. Several names had been announced, but it was above all that of Brad Bird who excited us: Netflix has acquired the rights to Ray Gunn, the next feature film from the director of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. The scenario takes place in an alternative future where Humans coexist on Earth with aliens and robots. Raymond Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell) is the last flesh-and-blood private detective, since machines do the same work much more efficiently.
A film noir with hardboiled accents but very funny, assures Bird, who proved it with a hilarious extract where his character goes to a gun shop to buy a new gun (he ends up with a pistol allowing his targets to be stored inside, reducing them to the state of atoms).
So as not to spoil too much, the gifted filmmaker decided to show the first seven minutes of Ray Gunn. Absolutely astonishing: we immediately arrive in an art deco-style mega metropolis, where tens of thousands of inhabitants live in towers that touch the sky. The “very urban” setting is established in a few seconds and Brad Bird does not linger, heading towards a burglary scene, involving Raymond – launched on an investigation – and his alien friend.
Barely time to rave about the sublime visuals (good news, it is still possible to have an original graphic touch, which is not influenced by the Spider-Verse, Arcane or photorealism) when two lads arrive who have come to look for the same document, as well as the owner of the place who returns earlier than expected. The humor is fully expressed in this sequence of pure slapstick where bodies fly and bullets miss their targets. And bam, it’s already over – quickly, the rest.
Bird takes the floor again to explain that his reference detective film is “Chinatown, which takes place in broad daylight” (the extract also made us think of The Maltese Falcon on steroids) and recounts that he managed to negotiate to recover Ray Gunn from the Warner Bros. archives, where he had been buried since the 90s, and continue developing him at Skydance Animation. Nearly thirty years for this potential masterpiece to see the light of day, but only a few months left before we discover it: Ray Gunn will be released on Netflix on December 18, and it promises to be huge.
The ghosts of Ghostbusters: Night Shift
Same room, different atmosphere. Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, the successive screenwriters and directors of the last two Ghostbusters films, have revealed the first images of Ghostbusters: Night Shift, which fills the gap between 1989 (Ghostbusters: Legacy 2) and 2001 (Ghostbusters: Legacy). Now timekeeper of his late father Ivan’s franchise, Jason Reitman entrusted two showrunners with the idea of an animated series set in 1994, with a cast of young ghost hunters. The revealed extract took place in Grand Central station in New York – obviously -, with this new guard struggling with a giant ectoplasm and a ghost train, literally.
The design leans a little too much towards Arcane but the general atmosphere, the desire for the spectacular and the attention to details, such as the dirt of the city and the DIY proton packs (with touches of the first PlayStation!), gives us hope that we will have a good time. At worst, the demon puppy, a super cute version of the hellhounds from the first film, should make things easier. Ghostbusters: Night Shift will be available in 2027.
One Piece and Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory
Netflix has also lifted the veil on a brand new anime adaptation of One Piece, which picks up the story from the very beginning of the “East Blue” saga of the original manga. We understand the financial stakes but it is difficult to justify the choice to remake the animated series which lasted more than 25 years. The platform justifies its decision by ensuring that “this series exploits the full potential of modern technologies to offer a vision of Luffy’s adventures that is both familiar and renewed. » Yeah. A teaser will allow you to form an opinion:
Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory is a little more exciting, since this animated film takes place in modern London, after Willy Wonka (voiced by Taika Waititi!) served a prison sentence for turning a kid into a blueberry. Back in his chocolate factory, he discovers that teenagers have broken in. We were able to see a teaser made up of images that were not at all finished, but sufficiently well-rounded to make you want to delve into this very free adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel. No release date yet.
