Amazon MGM Studios has dropped the first trailer for The Sheep Detectives, the upcoming mystery comedy from director Kyle Balda, arriving in theaters May 8, 2026.
Based on Leonie Swann’s bestselling novel Three Bags Full, the film centers on George (Hugh Jackman), a shepherd who reads detective novels to his flock every night before bed, assuming they can’t possibly understand the stories. But when George is mysteriously found dead, the sheep realize they’ve learned more from those nightly readings than anyone expected — and take it upon themselves to investigate the crime.
The trailer teases the flock’s unexpected sleuthing skills as they piece together clues and examine the humans around them in hopes of solving their shepherd’s murder.
The ensemble cast includes Tosin Cole, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, and Hong Chau.
Voicing the sheep themselves are Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, and Rhys Darby. Hall voices a sheep named Cloud.
Balda (Minions: The Rise of Gru) makes his live-action directorial debut with the film from a screenplay by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Last of Us). The project is produced by Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner.
The trailer introduces the film’s central mystery when one of the sheep declares after discovering George’s body: “Our shepherd was murdered.” Another quickly adds that the local policeman is “completely hopeless,” prompting the flock to launch their own investigation.
The Sheep Detectives arrives in theaters on May 8, 2026.