Paramount and Netflix are closing the curtain on their animated movie agreement, but two eagerly awaited projects will still land on Netflix as planned.
“Both companies remain fully committed to the successful releases of RAY GUNN and the untitled JACK AND THE BEANSTALK project on Netflix, and additionally will continue their longstanding content licensing relationship,” representatives said in a joint statement to Deadline. The companies said they were proud of their work together and looked forward to bringing the two remaining projects to audiences around the world.
The split winds down a partnership that began before Skydance Media joined Paramount. Netflix and Skydance Animation announced the multiyear agreement in October 2023, giving Netflix the studio’s existing animated movie slate and future projects.
That original announcement put SPELLBOUND at the front of the deal and named RAY GUNN and Rich Moore’s untitled JACK AND THE BEANSTALK project among the movies to follow. Skydance later became part of Paramount when Skydance Media and Paramount Global completed their merger on Aug. 7, 2025.
For viewers, the immediate takeaway is refreshingly simple: the two announced projects are staying put. Netflix has scheduled RAY GUNN for Dec. 18, while the companies have not announced a release date for the JACK AND THE BEANSTALK project.
Related: How Paramount’s Skydance Media Merger Will Shake Up the Studio
“It was always meant to be a blend of sci-fi and classic detective movies from the ’40s,” director Brad Bird told Netflix’s Tudum about RAY GUNN. He described his elevator pitch as THE MALTESE FALCON meets BUCK ROGERS.
The retro-futuristic story follows private investigator Raymond Gunn, voiced by Sam Rockwell, after a case pulls him toward aliens, murder and celebrity Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Bird has carried the idea for more than 30 years, stretching back to before his 1999 directorial debut, THE IRON GIANT.
Moore, the director behind ZOOTOPIA and WRECK-IT RALPH, remains attached to the untitled JACK AND THE BEANSTALK project. Netflix and Paramount offered no new story details in their statement, leaving that fairy-tale adventure as the bigger question mark of the pair.
The decision arrives after Skydance Animation delivered a sizable Netflix hit. In August, Netflix reported that SWAPPED had reached 144.9 million views over 12 weeks, enough to place No. 8 on the service’s list of its most popular movies at the time.
That family adventure follows Ollie, a small woodland creature voiced by Michael B. Jordan, and Ivy, a regal bird voiced by Juno Temple. After magically trading species, the sworn enemies must work together to protect their shared home, turning an old feud into a lesson in empathy.
Paramount’s next move points back toward theaters. According to Deadline, the studio plans to give Skydance Animation’s COSMIC MOTORS, directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Louie Del Carmen, a theatrical release rather than sending it to Netflix under the outgoing agreement.
The corporate partnership is changing, not vanishing altogether. Paramount will continue licensing other programming to Netflix, and families still have RAY GUNN and the JACK AND THE BEANSTALK project ahead; as always, each new title will deserve a careful look at its story, worldview and content before movie night.
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
