Last December, I reported that, despite rumors, Brad Bird would not be directing “Incredibles 3.” A simple reason for this: Bird is too busy shooting his decade-in-the-making project: “Ray Gunn.”
This afternoon, Pixar handed directorial duties over to Peter Sohn, known for his work on “Elemental” and “The Good Dinosaur.” This marks a shift in creative leadership for the beloved superhero franchise, which had been spearheaded by Bird for over two decades now.
However, Bird, who wrote and directed the first two ‘Incredibles’ films, has written the script for ‘Incredibles 3,’ and is co-producing the third chapter. The two previous films in the series were both critical and commercial hits, collectively earning around $1.8 billion worldwide.
Although Disney revealed a third installment during its D23 Expo in August 2024 with Bird “developing” the project, his packed schedule—including work on Ray Gunn for Skydance and Disney’s “1906”—has kept him from directing this time around.
The good news is that “Ray Gunn,” which only had one studio (Netflix) willing to finance its $150M budget, will indeed be seeing the light of day, and could very well be released next year.
“Ray Gunn” has been a passion project of Bird’s for nearly 30 years. Originally developed with writer Matthew Robbins, it reportedly tells the story of the last human private detective, Raymund Gunn, in a futuristic world inhabited by both humans and aliens.
Bird is a true visionary, especially when it comes to animation. His most notable credits include “Incredibles.” “The Iron Giant,” “Ratatouille,” and “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.” We’ll just pretend Bird never directed “Tomorrowland.”
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.