Art & Entertainment
Brad Bird’s New Animated Detective Epic ‘Ray Gunn’ Coming to Netflix After London Film Festival
Netflix has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to Brad Bird’s animated feature "Ray Gunn" starting Dec. 18, 2026, following a premiere at the London Film Festival before arriving on the platform, according to reports.
This retro-futuristic detective epic combines science fiction and noir elements, Bird’s first feature since "Incredibles 2" in 2018 and his first foray into an original animated project for a streaming platform. Reports indicate it will be the third feature film to emerge from Netflix’s in-house animation efforts, part of a broader push by the streamer to build out original animated fare beyond licensed and acquired titles.
The voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits, according to reports. Plot details remain sparse; the retro-futuristic detective premise and title suggest a genre mashup in the vein of Bird’s earlier work, which includes "The Iron Giant," "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille," though no synopsis has been made public.
Throughout his career, Bird has moved between Pixar projects and independent animated productions, and "Ray Gunn" marks his highest-profile project since leaving Pixar’s in-house slate. A London Film Festival premiere would put the film in front of critics and festival audiences months before its December streaming release, typical for awards-season positioning. No runtime has been confirmed. Netflix has not released a trailer or additional cast details beyond the three leads named so far.
Press Release Netflix Media
Powered by SgAiSolution
Art & Entertainment
Maryland and DC Independent Filmmaker Arjay Jones Launches Earth Three Pictures
Filmmaker Arjay Jones has established Earth Three Pictures, an independent production company focused on creating opportunities for creatives in the Maryland and DC regions, according to the announcement.
Earth Three Pictures intends to create new properties and adapt existing stories, prioritizing distinctive characterization, emotional resonance, and thematically substantive content. Its first project, per the announcement, is a historical horror film, though further plot and casting details were not included in the material provided.
The venture represents a region-focused counterpoint to outside productions that import their talent and technical personnel. Multiple independent outlets covering the DMV film scene have picked up the announcement in the same terms, describing the company’s focus areas as expanding local opportunity and drawing on the region’s creative resources, though none has yet published additional detail beyond what the initial release stated.
No release date, cast list or production timeline for the historical horror project has been announced. It’s also not yet clear how Earth Three Pictures plans to fund or distribute its slate, or whether Jones will direct, write or star in the debut feature himself given his background in all three roles.
Powered by SgAiSolution
Art & Entertainment
Tom Cruise’s Top Gun Maverick Arrives on Netflix With Little Fanfare
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Netflix’s September 2026 film lineup mixes five original productions with a licensed catalog title that arrived with almost no promotional push: "Top Gun: Maverick," the 2022 Tom Cruise sequel widely recognized for its role in revitalizing theatrical box office performance, arrives on the platform September 22 as part of a continuing content licensing deal with Paramount. According to a rundown of the month’s releases, Netflix did not formally announce the title’s arrival, despite it being among the most-watched films of the decade.
The rest of the month is built around originals. "Best of the Best," out September 18, is a coming-of-age comedy helmed by Lena Khan, with Hasan Minhaj as co-writer, producer, and lead actor alongside "Never Have I Ever" lead Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The film follows two childhood friends, played by Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia, who join a competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team at UCLA and find the path to a U.S. championship more grueling than expected.
September 25 brings "Unabomber," a psychological thriller from "Borg vs. McEnroe" director Janus Metz starring Jacob Tremblay as a teenage Ted Kaczynski and Russell Crowe as a manipulative Harvard psychology professor conducting mind-control experiments on him. A second timeline set in the 1990s follows a fictional FBI agent, played by Shailene Woodley, hunting the adult bomber. The film employs parallel timelines to follow the psychological descent from gifted mathematician to criminal, according to the announcement.
On September 10, "Call My Agent! The Movie" extends the French series "Dix pour cent" roughly six years after its finale, with Camille Cottin’s Andréa Martel directing her first feature and Laure Calamy’s Noémie producing. Laurent Lafitte appears as a fictionalized version of himself as the production’s problem leading man, with cameos from George Clooney and Eva Longoria. Reviewing the film for Variety, critic Guy Lodge praised its return to form, writing that the humor stays sharp and rapid-fire, brimming with French showbiz humor and celebrity appearances, with Cottin and Calamy delivering memorable on-screen chemistry
Also arriving is "LifeHack" on September 23, a screenlife thriller from producer Timur Bekmambetov that follows four teenage hackers attempting to steal cryptocurrency from a tech billionaire, only to discover their target is more dangerous than they anticipated. The film, which drew attention at the 2025 SXSW festival, stars Georgie Farmer of "Wednesday" and Yasmin Finney of "Heartstopper."
Netflix has not detailed further promotional plans for "Top Gun: Maverick" beyond its listed streaming date.
Studio CarryOnHarry Perspective
At Studio CarryOnHarry, we see "Call My Agent! The Movie" as emblematic of Netflix’s quiet shift toward treating international hits as franchise properties worthy of theatrical-scale investment. The French series "Dix pour cent" became a global phenomenon precisely because Netflix gave it platform parity with English-language originals—and now the streamer is doubling down by greenlighting a feature continuation with A-list Hollywood cameos and directorial debuts from its own cast. This isn’t a one-off: it signals that Netflix views proven international audiences as launch pads for expanded universes, not just catalog filler. For non-English creators and audiences, it suggests a maturation of the platform’s commitment beyond mere representation toward genuine franchise development. Whether this model extends to other global hits remains to be seen, but September’s slate indicates Netflix is betting that storytelling doesn’t need subtitles to be bankable.
Image Courtesy top-gun-maverick
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
Press Releases at Studio CarryOnHarry
Powered by SgAiSolution
-
Artists6 days agoTwo New String Quartets to Premiere at Pasadena Concert Spotlighting Latin American Composers
-
Interviews5 days agoTagore Almeida discusses the deeply personal journey behind SALIGIA
-
Artists5 days agoBerlin Producer FANCI Steps From Behind the Boards With Debut Single “Funky Sexy Cool”
-
Editor's Choice3 days agoSpider-Man: Brand New Day Dethrones Avatar 2 as 3rd Highest-Grossing Film Ever
-
Books5 days agoCan Machines Study the Mind? New Book Uses AI to Examine Consciousness Fundamentalism
-
Books5 days agoOrdained Minister Publishes Memoir on Addiction, Faith and His Mother’s Prayers
