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Incredibles Director Brad Bird’s Long-Planned 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Project Could Become a Miniseries | Comic Con 2026
Brad Bird has said his long-planned project about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake may be developed as a miniseries rather than a film. Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, the director said the story had grown too large for a single feature, with the scale of the earthquake and the subsequent fire making an episodic format more suitable.
Bird suggested the series could run for about eight episodes and would still require a film-sized budget. The project was first reported as a potential feature in 2007 and was once intended to be Bird’s live-action debut, but he says it was not abandoned over budget concerns; he instead struggled to include all the material he had researched. He also confirmed he is co-writing and producing, but not directing, Incredibles 3, while developing another live-action film incorporating animation.
In short
- Brad Bird may turn his 1906 earthquake project into an eight-episode miniseries.
- He says the story became too large for one film.
- Bird is co-writing and producing Incredibles 3.
Explained simply
Brad Bird is a celebrated film director best known for animated films including The Incredibles and Ratatouille. For roughly two decades, he has been developing a project about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire—one of the deadliest natural disasters in American history that destroyed much of the city and killed thousands.
The earthquake struck without warning in April 1906, causing widespread destruction across San Francisco and triggering fires that burned for several days. The event fundamentally reshaped the city and became significant in discussions about urban planning and disaster response as residents rebuilt.
Bird first began working on this story around 2007 with the intention of it being his live-action directorial debut. Over the years, he accumulated extensive research and material on the subject, which he says grew too large to fit within a single feature-length film.
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