'Dolittle' delivers powerful message amid Australia bushfire crisis

In the film "Dolittle," it's the good doctor and a menagerie of animals on a mission to save a human. In harsh reality, humans are battling catastrophic wildfires that threaten species unique to Australia.

Star and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. said at the movie's world premiere on Saturday that the film's message of "cohabitation and conservation" feels especially timely.

"The timing has been really interesting, and we don't want to take any credit for the synchronicity of that," Downey noted. "It just seems like sometimes the universe is on a certain message. And, so, the idea of cohabitation and conservation has always been at the heart of these kinds of movies. Communication, right?"

In addition to starring in "Dolittle," Downey serves as one of the film's executive producers, and his wife Susan Downey is one of the film's producers.

The movie is heavy on A-list actors, with some in live-action roles and others providing their voices to the computer-generated animals.

Besides Downey, those walking the premiere's red carpet included Selena Gomez, Michael Sheen, Rami Malek and John Cena.

"If you just look at who is involved in this project," Downey said. "It was such a vote of confidence to see the calibre of folks that came and decided to join our little circus. And, so, our jobs, then – hers as a producer and mine as kind of head of the acting department – is to always try and hope that they're glad that they spent the time and energy they did, 'cause, you know, time is a valuable commodity. So, yeah, it's everybody else."

"Dolittle" is now in theatres in New Zealand, Costa Rica, Uruguay, South Korea, Serbia and Ukraine. It hits US theatres on Friday.