Only a few weeks before his unexpected death on July 13, 2026, actor Sam Neill appeared at the Sydney Film Festival in Australia to talk about his role in the upcoming black comedy “The Fox.”

Jai Courtney stars in the movie about a Nick the hunter, who is devastated when his fiancée, (Emily Browning) cheats on him. One night, he encounters a talking fox (voiced by Olivia Colman), who offers a surprising solution to his problem that involves shape shifting.

Neill voices a Magpie that not only talks, but likes to swear a blue streak. The Fox tells Nick that “Magpies stick their nose in other people’s business” and describes this one as a “vulgar bird” after it says, “Get f–ked, folks.”

On June 4 during a Q&A at the Sydney Film Festival, Neill cracked up the audience when he revealed his inspiration for the Magpie came from a real-life bird. “I used to call him the disappointed orgasm bird, because he sounds like this, and this was about four in the morning, ‘Ehhhhhhhhh, ehhhhh, ehhhhhhhhhh,” he told the delighted attendees.

Madman Entertainment, which is distributing the film, recently shared a clip of Neill recording his lines.

The film, which premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on October 19, 2025 will be released in Australia on October 29, 2026. No US premiere date has been announced yet.

It costars Miranda Otto and Damon Herrington and marks the feature directorial debut of Dario Russo, known forthe viral web series “Italian Spiderman” and the Australian cult show “Danger 5.”

Neill’s many other films include “Jurassic Park,” “The Piano,” “The Hunt for the Wilderpeople” and “The Hunt for Red October.”

Watch the trailer below: