A Private Eye in Metropia, Brad Bird Brings Ray Gunn With Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell to AFI Fest

Ray Gunn, Brad Bird’s animated neo-noir with the voices of Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits, screens as an AFI Fest Red Carpet Premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m.

Bird has carried a private eye, an alien partner and a pop star in a city called Metropia around Hollywood for decades. On Sunday afternoon the Oscar-winning director brings them to the boulevard. The AFI Fest film page lists the showing for members and passholders and names no guests, so appearances by Bird or the voice cast have not been announced.

What Ray Gunn Is About

Ray Gunn is a retro-futuristic neo-noir mystery set in Metropia, a city where humans and aliens coexist uneasily. In AFI’s description, the old-school private eye Ray Gunn and his alien associate Eyera are pulled into a case of jealousy, greed and murder that leads to the pop star Venus Nova.

Rockwell voices Ray Gunn, Waits voices Eyera and Johansson voices Venus Nova, according to AFI. The festival calls the film a decades-in-the-making passion project for Bird, and credits Bird and Matthew Robbins with the screenplay. The running time is 119 minutes.

Why It Took So Long

Bird has been trying to get Ray Gunn made for more than 30 years, What’s on Netflix reported, and Skydance Animation finally brought Metropia to the screen. ComicBookMovie reported in June that Bird and Robbins first developed the script in the mid-1990s and that Skydance gave the project the go-ahead in 2022. The same report says Bird stepped away from directing Incredibles 3 because of the long production, though he still wrote that film’s script, and that Ray Gunn is his first film in eight years.

The producers listed by AFI are John Lasseter, Bird, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg. Michael Giacchino wrote the score, and Velvet covered his Disney Hall evening earlier this month.

Who Else Is in the Cast

The voice cast runs deep. What’s on Netflix lists Matt Berry as Francis “Slugsy” Xavier, Alan Tudyk as Barry Vogel and Patton Oswalt as a hologram. Bird himself voices Gunsol and Musker, two of Slugsy’s alien henchmen. The site also names Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger and Justin Peck in the cast. The film is rated PG.

Johansson’s role puts her at the center of the mystery. Venus Nova is the pop star the whole case turns on, according to AFI.

When It Comes to Theaters and Netflix

Netflix plans a short theatrical run before the film streams. What’s on Netflix reported a limited theatrical release starting Friday, December 4, including what Netflix called limited 70mm engagements, which the site notes is rare for an animated film. The film then arrives on Netflix on Friday, December 18. ComicBookMovie reported that Netflix announced the December 18 date at the Annecy animation festival. No Los Angeles theaters for the December run have been named.

The film already screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 10 and 17, What’s on Netflix reported, so Sunday is its Hollywood turn. AFI first announced Ray Gunn and I Play Rocky as red carpet galas in a September release, and the full lineup names five Red Carpet Premieres in all. Peter Berg’s The Mosquito Bowl has its world premiere at the same theater on Thursday, and Being Heumann closes the festival on Sunday.

Practical Details

Ray Gunn screens Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. AFI lists the screening for members and passholders. The film page does not list prices and points to the festival’s tickets and passes pages at fest.afi.com.