We first learned that a live-action Mobile Suit Gundam movie was in development way back in 2018 during the Anime Expo, and in 2021, we finally got an update when it was announced that Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) would direct the project for Netflix.
Vogt-Roberts would later ways with the movie, and Sweet Tooth showrunner Jim Mickle was brought on to replace him. It's been pretty quiet on the Gundam front since, but we now have confirmation (Jeff Sneider first reported the news) that Sydney Sweeney is in final talks to play the lead role.
Plot and character details are currently under wraps.
Sweeney’s recent film work includes Madame Web, Immaculate and Ron Howard’s Eden. The highly in-demand actress also has a slew of other projects on the way, including AppleTV+ film Echo Valley alongside Julianne Moore, the Freida McFadden adaptation The Housemaid with Amanda Seyfried, Colman Domingo’s Scandalous and an untitled biopic in which she stars as boxer Christy Martin.
Sweeney is also rumored to be in talks for a major superhero (likely MCU) role, but this has not been confirmed.
Gundam, which is generally credited with popularizing the giant robot genre all the way back in 1979, is set in the Universal Century, "an era in which people have emigrated to space colonies because of a growing population on Earth. Eventually, the people living in the colonies seek their autonomy and launch a war of independence against the people on Earth. Battles are fought by piloting robots known as mobile suits."
The Japanese military science fiction media franchise started out as a TV series from Yoshiyuki Tomino known as Mobile Suit Gundam. It grew in popularity through the 1980s due to a wide array of adaptations across animated feature films, novels, manga, toys, models and video games.
Legendary Pictures will partner with Sunrise to produce the adaptation, which had Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Saga) on board as screenwriter and executive producer along with Cale Boyter, who was set to oversee the project on behalf of Legendary and Sunrise (we're not sure if they're still involved).
Legendary already has the Pacific Rim franchise, but with no word on a third movie, it looks like the studio may have moved on and would rather take a crack at the classic Mech anime series that directly inspired those giant robot/monster mashes.
No release or production start date for Gundam has been announced.
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