Watch Animation Test Footage For A ‘Rust’ Graphic Novel Adaptation
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A live-action adaptation ofRoyden Lepp’sfamily-friendly graphic novelRusthas been in the workssince the summer of 2011, a few months before it was even available to purchase. A year later,Attack the Blockdirector andThe Adventures of Tintinco-writerJoe Cornishwas attached to direct the film, produced bySimon Kinberg, with a script byThe Devil Wears PradawriterAline Brosh McKenna. Since then, we haven’t heard anything about the project, but that changes today.
Sadly, there hasn’t been any update on the development ofRust, but it appears there may have once been an idea to turn the movie into an animated adaptation instead of a live-action movie. SomeRusttest footage has been discovered online, created by animatorRyan J. Woodward, the same guy who has worked on movies likeSpace Jam, Osmosis Jones, The Iron GiantandTomorrowland.
Watch the Rust animation test footage below.
Motion Graphics tweeted out this short clip, crediting it toRyan J. Woodward(viaGeekTyrant):
By@ryanwoodwardart・・・https://t.co/UrUThlGF3f・・・#motiongraphics#animation#artwork#work#art#illustration#character#characterdesignpic.twitter.com/j9Fe2lSCrr
— Motion Graphics Collective (@Motion_Graphic)June 06, 2025
For those who aren’t familiar withRust, here’s the official synopsis of the first volume:
Rust is a high-octane adventure set in the prairie lands of an unknown time. Life on the Taylor family farm was difficult enough before Jet Jones crashes into the barn, chased by a giant decommissioned war robot! Oldest son Roman Taylor struggles to keep his family’s small farm afloat as the area heals from a devastating world war. While the rest of his family may not trust the mysterious boy with the jetpack, Roman believes the secrets of Jet’s past may be the key to their survival.
The above clip takes place on the farm, following Jet Jones as he rides on the front of Roman Taylor’s motorcycle, which is being chased by the giant robot. In addition, there’s also another test clip featuring the robot from the above video that was posted over a year ago, but you have towatch it over at Vimeosince privacy settings keep it from being embedded.
The clip from the Twitter post surfaced back in November, but this is the first we’ve seen of it. There’s no indication as to whether this is for a version of Rust that is still in the works or if it’s merely Ryan J. Woodward just messing around with some software just for the hell of it. Either way, the influence ofThe Iron Giantis clear both in character design and visuals, just with a 3D style instead of more traditional 2D animation and a sepia tone. It would be great to see an animated adaptation ofRustin this form get off the ground, but as of now, we don’t know what Fox is thinking.
