A Spanish Mystery Thriller
Sep 18, 2023
INSPECTOR SUN opens October 27
The murder mystery genre is known for boasting just the right kind of hair-raising thrills and brain-teasing intrigue that can appeal to audiences of all ages. Unfortunately, as one can imagine from a genre that typically deals with particularly bleak and macabre subject matter, there are not very many whodunits that are suitable for younger viewers. Luckily, an exception to that common case is heading to AMC Theatres in the form of INSPECTOR SUN.
Set to open in the United States on Friday, October 27, 2023, this family-friendly thriller was previously released in its native country of Spain in December 2022. Learn all about who is voicing the title character, the other behind-the scenes talent involved, and more in the following breakdown of what to expect from INSPECTOR SUN – starting with the head-scratching case at the center.
If Agatha Christie ever wrote a novel from the perspective of bugs, it might have turned out a lot like INSPECTOR SUN. The story plays out very similarly to that of a Hercule Poirot mystery, as it involves a commercial travel vessel full of potential suspects in a deadly crime that a world-famous detective is forced to solve. The biggest difference, however, is that the titular hero is a spider and his fellow passengers are other various species of arthropod.
The animated adventure begins in Shanghai in the early 1930s, where Inspector Sun has finally managed to bring his archnemesis – the Red Locust – to justice and then boards a luxurious sea plane heading to San Francisco. Yet, when one of the passengers – the wealthy Dr. Bugsy Spindlethorp – mysteriously turns up dead after previously warning Sun that he feared his life was in danger, it is up to Sun to figure out who is the culprit. Among his prime suspects is the doctor’s own wife, Baroness Arabella Killtop, who – aptly so – is a member of the Black Widow species of spider.
Playing the title role of Inspector Sun in the film’s English-language version is Ronny Chieng, who has previously lent his voice to movies like Netflix’s WISH DRAGON from 2021 and animated TV shows like another Netflix exclusive from the same year called “Mulligan.” However, you may also recognize the Malaysian stand-up comedian’s face as a “Daily Show” correspondent or from films like 2018’s blockbuster rom-com CRAZY RICH ASIANS and 2021’s MCU hit, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
According to Collider, his co-stars include Jennifer Childs Greer as Baroness Arabella Killtop and, as her husband and the murder victim, Dr. Spindlethorp, we have Scott Geer. Inspector Sun’s assistant, a jumping spider named Janey, is voiced by Emily Kleimo – who was previously part of the voice cast for the English-language version of a Russian animated movie called FIXIES VS KRABOTS – and Paul Louis Miller also stars as the suspiciously named, Mr. Gill Tea. And that only covers the English-language INSPECTOR SUN voice cast and not the talent featured in the original Spanish-language version of the film.
At the helm of INSPECTOR SUN is Julio Soto Gúrpide, who has prior experience directing both animated movies and live-action titles. He got his start in helming feature-length films as a documentarian – with 2006’s made-for-TV documentary, RADIOPHOBIA, and 2010’s MY BEAUTIFUL DACIA – before making his animation debut in 2017 with DEEP, which sounds almost like an underwater version of WALL-E as it follows a group of marine creatures inhabiting a 22nd Century Earth long after humans have abandoned the planet.
The story of this new, hilarious whodunit comes from Rocco Pucillo, who debuted as the co-writer, co-director, and an actor in the live-action indie dramedy MY BROTHER’S LIGHT in 2002. He would go on to conduct various services for many well-known animated and live-action titles – such as visual effects for SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN from 2012 and production management for Disney’s THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG – before transitioning into writing for animated series like “Mega Man: Fully Charged” and “Voltron: Legendary Defender.” His screenplay for INSPECTOR SUN actually received praise years before it went into production when it won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award in 2013, according to Deadline.
After reviewing everything that we know so far about INSPECTOR SUN, the only question that remains is who is the bug behind the murder of Dr. Bugsy Spindlethorp. Curious viewers will just have to head to their nearby AMC Theatres location when it hits the big screen this October to find out!
INSPECTOR SUN opens October 27
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