Brad Bird's 30-Year Vision Finally Gets a Premiere Date
The biggest draw of Netflix's Annecy showcase is Ray Gunn, the latest from Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille). Bird has been developing the project for more than 30 years, longer than any of his Pixar work. The animated neo-noir is set in Metropia, a retro-futuristic megacity imagined from a 1939 vantage point, where private eye Raymond Gunn gets pulled into a case involving aliens, a murder, and a multimedia celebrity named Venus Nova.
Bird co-wrote the original screenplay with Matthew Robbins, his longtime collaborator known for scripting Guillermo del Toro's Mimic and Crimson Peak. Skydance Animation is producing, with John Lasseter on board as producer. Sam Rockwell voices the title character, joined by Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits.
At the festival presentation, Netflix screened a clip of Gunn trying to buy a weapon along with the film's opening seven minutes, which introduce Metropia's retro-futuristic skyline and Gunn's alien sidekick Eyera. Ray Gunn streams globally on December 18.
Cinderella's Stepsister Gets Her Own Movie in Steps
Steps flips the Cinderella story by making stepsister Lilith the hero. Misunderstood by everyone around her, Lilith teams up with Cinderella to save a fairy-tale kingdom from collapse after her rebellion at the Royal Ball backfires spectacularly. Netflix Animation Studios produced the film, directed by Alyce Tzue, known for her animated short Soar, and John Ripa, who co-directed Raya and the Last Dragon at Disney.
Ali Wong voices Lilith, with Stephanie Hsu as her sister Margot and Amanda Seyfried as Cinderella. Annecy coverage from Variety also confirmed Bette Midler as the Fairy Godmother and Nikki Glaser as Priscilla, the villain who seizes power when the sisters' stunt breaks the fairy-tale order. Steps streams worldwide on November 20.
Cannes Breakout In Waves Lands a December Date
In Waves opened the Critics' Week sidebar at this year's Cannes Film Festival to strong reviews before Netflix secured global distribution rights (outside France) in a competitive acquisition. Based on AJ Dungo's graphic novel of the same name, the film is set in Los Angeles and follows AJ, a shy teenager who loves skateboarding and drawing, and Kristen, a passionate surfer. The two fall in love and share irreplaceable time together, but Kristen's illness upends their world.
Director Phuong Mai Nguyen makes her feature debut after the short film Chez moi. Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu voice the leads. In Waves streams globally on December 11.
Looking Ahead
All three featured films launch as simultaneous worldwide Netflix exclusives, so international viewers won't face a staggered rollout.
Netflix's Annecy showcase also confirmed dates across a broader animation and anime slate. THE ONE PIECE, WIT Studio's ground-up remake of Eiichiro Oda's pirate saga, is targeting February 2027. Blue Eye Samurai Season 2 is listed as coming soon with no firm date.
The rest of the 2026 lineup includes The Ribbon Hero, a film adapting Osamu Tezuka's classic manga Princess Knight, on August 8; new series Bass X Machina on November 3; and Foolnight, another series slated for later in 2026. Ghostbusters: Night Shift, a new animated series from Sony Pictures Animation, is confirmed for 2027.