This month will see the return of “Love, Death + Robots” on Netflix, which is produced by Tim Miller and David Fincher. With the third volume arriving, something special is happening. Fincher will be helming his first animated short for the anthology streaming series.
Netflix has released a new trailer (See below) and announced Fincher is directing the segment “Bad Travelling” which was written by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (“Se7en“) and based on a short story by Miller’s longtime pal, author Neal Asher. This marks Fincher’s first time directing something for the streaming series.
Netflix has also included a synopsis that reads as follows:
“A jable shark-hunting sailing vessel is attacked by a giant crustacean whose size and intelligence is matched only by its appetite. Mutiny, betrayal, and ventriloquism with a corpse.”
Fincher has long been interested in the world of animation with a failed attempt to turn the comic book “The Goon” into a feature film. Before “Love, Death + Robots” landed on Netflix and the success of “Deadpool“, Miller and Fincher teamed up for a never-made revival of the beloved R-rated animated sci-fi anthology film “Heavy Metal“ with directors such as James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, Fincher, and others being lined up to contribute. Fincher spent ages pitching the project to studios and even approached action star Tom Cruise but nobody was interested, and the duo reconfigured it as an original at Netflix.
The segment is Fincher’s old “Heavy Metal” story being recycled for the Netflix series and there have been concept art images from it online for ages, which makes us curious whether other filmmakers will eventually get to make their unmade “Heavy Metal” shorts at some point. “Bad Travelling” isn’t the only carry-over as Carlos Stevens‘ “Mason’s Rats” short was part of that original “Heavy Metal” lineup too.
“Volume 2” previously included the short “Snow In The Desert,” another Asher story from the “Heavy Metal” development that Cruise was said to be interested in, according to Asher.
Other directors working on “Volume 3” shorts include Miller, Patrick Osborne, Emily Dean handing a tribute to the highly influential French artist Moebius (“Alien,” “The Fifth Element“), Jennifer Yuh, Jerome Chen, Alberto Mielgo, Robert Bisi, and Andy Lyon.
Here is the synopsis for “Volume 3”:
Terror, imagination, and beauty combine in nine new episodes which stretch from uncovering an ancient evil to a comedic apocalypse, telling startling short stories of fantasy, horror and science-fiction with trademark wit and visual invention.
“Love, Death + Robots Volume 3” debuts on May 20 and you can watch the new trailer below.