Brad Bird has said his long-planned project about San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake could work as a television miniseries, marking a possible first move into TV for the director. Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, he said the story’s scale and wealth of historical material make it better suited to multiple episodes while still retaining the spectacle of a major film.

Bird has pursued the project since 2007 and rejected online claims that it was abandoned because its budget became unmanageable, saying it never reached that stage. He described uncovering increasingly compelling historical stories during research, and currently imagines an eight-episode limited series rather than a multi-season programme. He gave no substantive update on Incredibles 3 beyond confirming he is writing it and working with director Peter Sohn.