The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives (2026) brings to the screen Leonie Swann's much-loved comic mystery Three Bags Full, a German-language bestseller in which a flock of sheep turns amateur sleuth. Directed by the animation veteran Kyle Balda (Minions, Despicable Me) from a screenplay by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Last of Us), it is a British-American co-production that pairs a quintessentially English village setting with the polish of a major studio family film.

The conceit is irresistible: when their shepherd is found dead in his field, the sheep — chief among them the formidably intelligent Miss Maple — decide that the humans are making a hash of the investigation and resolve to crack the case on their own. Balda blends live-action human performers with photoreal animated animals brought to life by the visual-effects house Framestore, giving voice to a barnyard of suspects and detectives. A starry cast anchors the project, with Hugh Jackman among the on-screen players and a deep bench of comic talent lending voices to the flock.

Arriving as a bright, all-ages whodunit, the film aims squarely at the cosy comfort that titles like Paddington and Shaun the Sheep have made a British speciality — gentle, witty entertainment built for a rainy afternoon. A genuine crowd-pleaser in the making, it offers the rare pleasure of a murder mystery that the whole family can puzzle through together, with the cleverest characters on four legs.