As we wait for Netflix’s upcoming animated detective movie Ray Gunn to get a trailer, there’s one important question: will it come to theaters?
The answer currently appears to be “no,” but writer-director Brad Bird would love for that to change. At this week’s Annecy Animation Festival, he mentioned to Polygon he was “talking” to the streamer, but he doesn’t know “whether they’re listening.” Glad as he is that the film exists, he’d be even happier if it was on the big screen, he said, highlighting his membership in the exhibition trade organization Cinema United. “[They’re] all about theatrical,” said Bird, “and I believe it’s the best way to see this movie the first time you see it.”
Every once in a while, Netflix puts a movie in theaters for Oscar consideration. But in the past year, KPop Demon Hunters and the Stranger Things finale both came to theaters because they were big events that proved to be worth the effort. Next year, the streamer will let Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles of Narnia movie, The Magician’s Nephew, open in theaters first, then bring it to the platform after the reverse has been the standard for years.
Should Netflix decide Ray Gunn isn’t theater-worthy, Bird has a plan B for audiences: DIY a theatrical experience. “Find the biggest screen you can, even if it’s down the street at your neighbor’s place,” he suggested. “Barge right in there and say, ‘We’re seeing this movie, because you have a big screen and that’s the way it should be seen.'”
Ray Gunn is expected to hit Netflix on December 18.
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