Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn Opens Strong After London Film Festival Premiere

Brad Bird’s long-gestating animated noir Ray Gunn premiered at the BFI London Film Festival over the Oct. 10 weekend, and early Rotten Tomatoes tallies put the Skydance Animation–Netflix feature in the high-80s to low-90s as critics split over story while praising the cityscapes. Animation Magazine reported an embargo lift around a roughly 90% Tomatometer on Oct. 10 after the festival bow, with Sam Rockwell voicing private eye Raymond Gunn, Scarlett Johansson as multimedia star Venus Nova and Tom Waits as alien partner Eye-Ra. Yahoo Entertainment / Forbes cited a 90% Fresh score from 29 reviews the same cycle and confirmed a limited Dec. 4 theatrical opening — including 70mm — ahead of a Dec. 18 Netflix debut.

According to Animation Magazine, the Cinesite-animated feature blends film-noir archetypes with retro-futuristic Metropia: flying cars, holograms and multi-limbed aliens orbit a murder case that pulls Rockwell’s straight-arrow detective toward Johansson’s celebrity client. Michael Giacchino’s score drew early notice alongside the production design. Yahoo’s Tim Lammers placed the film as Bird’s first directing credit since Incredibles 2 (2018) and listed additional voices including Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez and John Ratzenberger.

Critical quotes compiled by Animation Magazine and Yahoo map a familiar Bird split. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw (via Observer framing in the roundup) called Bird the “Spielberg of animation” and labeled the film a “terrific family” fantasy with “amazing cityscape design.” The Wrap’s Drew Taylor called it “zippy and imaginative” and among Bird’s best. Variety’s Guy Lodge awarded Fresh while arguing the comedy and characters “want for texture,” and The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han went Rotten, calling the film a “blandly palatable jumble” of sci-fi and neo-noir clichés. The Independent summarized the same mixed London reaction, quoting THR, Variety, AV Club and the Guardian’s five-star rave.

Yahoo noted the early Tomatometer sits near Bird’s prior animated bench — The Incredibles (97%), Ratatouille and The Iron Giant (96%), Incredibles 2 (93%) — while stressing that Audience scores will wait until December. Animation Magazine framed Ray Gunn as Bird’s fifth major animated feature and an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run on Dec. 4 before the Netflix window. Bird and voice stars Johansson and Rockwell attended the London premiere, the trade said.

The release date puts the streamer launch on the same December weekend as other blockbuster tentpoles, raising the stakes for whether Metropia’s visuals convert into broad household viewing. For now, the festival-week scoreboard is the story: a passion project Bird first wrote in the 1990s finally faces critics, and the opening board is Fresh even as individual notices argue about soul versus spectacle.

Rated PG, Ray Gunn opens in select theaters Dec. 4 and streams on Netflix Dec. 18.

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Verification: London Film Festival premiere timing, ~90% early Tomatometer, Rockwell/Johansson/Waits casting, Giacchino score, Cinesite/Skydance-Netflix credits, Dec. 4 theatrical / Dec. 18 Netflix dates and critic quote sampling come from Animation Magazine (Oct. 10, 2026). The 90% / 29-review tally, additional voice cast, Bird’s first directing credit since Incredibles 2, Metropia plot framing and matching critic excerpts are from Yahoo Entertainment / Forbes (Tim Lammers, Oct. 10, 2026), with mixed-reaction corroboration from The Independent (Kevin E G Perry, Oct. 10, 2026).