The excellent first trailer for Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson’s sheep-centric murder mystery has arrived. The Sheep Detectives, which is based on the novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, follows a flock who investigate the murder of their shepherd.
In the first look, we see Jackman’s character George Hardy attending to his (CGI) sheep, even reading them murder mystery novels – which captivate the secretly anthropomorphic animals.
However, they have a real case on their hands when George is found dead, with the flock causing all manner of havoc with the locals as they try and find the culprit… who may have been motivated by $30 million in his will.
We also get a look at the characters, including Thompson’s high-flying lawyer and a policeman (played by Succession‘s Nicholas Braun, here with an English accent). Also starring are Mary & George‘s Nicholas Galitzine, The Bear‘s Molly Gordon and The Night Agent‘s Hong Chau.
There’s also an impressive voice cast for the sheep, including Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston, Veep‘s Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Black Mirror‘s Chris O’Dowd, One Battle After Another‘s Regina Hall and Jackman’s X-Men co-star Patrick Stewart.
Sony Pictures
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The synopsis reads: “When George is found dead under mysterious circumstances, the sheep realize at once that it was a murder and think they know everything about how to go about solving it. The local cop Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), on the other hand, has never solved a serious crime in his life.
“So, the sheep conclude they will have to solve it themselves, even if it means leaving their meadow for the first time and facing the fact that the human world isn’t as simple as it appears in books.”
Sony Pictures
The Sheep Detectives has been written by The Last of Us‘ Craig Mazin, with Minions’ Kyle Balda directing.
The movie, which is due out next year, comes off a busy 2025 for Jackman and Thompson, the former recently starring in musical drama Song Sung Blue, while the latter has appeared in thriller movie Dead of Winter and Apple TV series Down Cemetery Road.
The Sheep Detectives is due out in UK cinemas on 8 May, 2026.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.
