Legendary Is Teaming With Netflix To Finally Move Forward With A Live-Action Gundam Movie!

 Written By: Ken Hulsey

Legendary Pictures is finally moving forward with the long-awaited Gundam movie project, which was first announced at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles back in 2018. Since then, the project has gone through multiple script revisions and changes in directors. Despite these challenges, the studio remained committed to producing a live-action Gundam film. Recently, it was announced that Legendary has secured a release platform through Netflix, a company known for adapting Japanese anime into live-action, with "Cowboy Bebop" being a notable example. Indie director Jim Mickle, who directed the acclaimed TV series "Sweet Tooth," is set to helm the project, which will feature actors Sydney Sweeney and Noah Centineo. It is still unclear whether the Gundam movie will be given a theatrical release or will premiere directly on streaming.

This will be the first-ever live-action feature film adaptation of Gundam, based on the popular mecha anime and science fiction franchise created by Sunrise in 1979. The billion-dollar property has developed into a multi-platform universe, encompassing television anime, manga, animated films, video games, plastic models, toys, and novels, among other media. Forty-plus years after its inception, Gundam continues to be a significant contributor to Bandai Namco’s earnings.

The original Gundam series is set in the Universal Century, a time when a growing human population leads to the establishment of space colonies. Eventually, the residents of these colonies seek independence, sparking a war with the people living on Earth. The series sensitively portrays not only the main character's maturation but also the intentions of enemies and others caught in the conflict. The battles, featuring characters piloting machines known as mobile suits, have become immensely popular.

Over the past two decades, several live-action films based on Japanese giant robot anime have gone through various stages of development hell, including Voltron, Robotech (based on the Macross series), Gōdaizer, and Gaiking, before ultimately being abandoned. However, it seems that Gundam may be one of the few projects to successfully progress through this challenging process, although no release date has been announced yet.