Sometimes, when you hear the plot of a movie, you think the executives behind it must have done a double-take when they read it. Or maybe it was a dare, and they didn’t realize, so they greenlit it for fear of being accused of “missing the point”. A murder mystery solved by sheep is absolutely one of them. Look at it on paper, though. Talking animals, a quality voice cast, Wolverine himself getting offed, and fuzzy creatures going Poirot, it could either become a surprise hit or leave everyone involved quietly pretending the sheep were never their idea, but now, thanks to financial filings, we have a clearer sense of just how big that swing really is.
From the looks of the numbers game, The Sheep Detectives reportedly needs to gross at least $128.6 million worldwide to break even, based on a rough 50-50 split between theaters and the studio. Now, the important thing is that those numbers are based on fact: via Forbes, the minimum cost was revealed through U.K. financial filings, with the production’s original cost reduced after a hefty U.K. tax break. Those filings put the movie’s cost at a minimum of $64.3 million after relief, which is where the break-even mathematics begin.
Based on Leonie Swann’s novel Three Bags Full, the film follows a flock of sheep who try to solve the murder of their beloved shepherd. The setup is basically Knives Out by way of Babe, which is utter nonsense, but the kind you’d want to watch. In fact, it sounds like the kind of movie Rian Johnson wishes he’d made. Maybe we’ll get Benoit Blanc on a farm next time. The project has also been a long time coming, with the book spending years in development before finally becoming a big-screen project. And critics have loved it so far, which is great. Reviews have said the weird premise, charm, and emotional weight of the film all hit.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
Advertisement
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
Advertisement
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
Advertisement
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
Advertisement
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
Advertisement
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
Advertisement
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
Advertisement
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
Advertisement
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
Advertisement
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Advertisement
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
Advertisement
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
Advertisement
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
Advertisement
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Advertisement
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Advertisement
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Advertisement
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Advertisement
Who Stars in ‘The Sheep Detectives’?
The cast includes Hugh Jackman (Logan, The Greatest Showman) as George, the shepherd whose death sends the story into motion — spoiler alert, sorry, but it is the plot after all — with voice performances from Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep, Seinfeld), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle), Regina Hall (Girls Trip, Support the Girls), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Logan), Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso, Shrinking), Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee), and Nicholas Braun (Succession, Cat Person).
You must be logged in to post a comment Login