Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Brian K. Vaughan are working on a live-action film version of Gundam — the hugely popular sci-fi anime series which premiered in 1979.
Gundam was originally created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise and was set in the Universal Century — a time period in which humans live in space colonies due to the overpopulation of Earth.
Seeking autonomy, the people of the colonies launch a war of independence against the people of Earth with battles being fought by piloting robots known as mobile suits.
Gundam was so immensely popular that it spawned over 50 TV series, films and original video animation in addition to manga, novels, toys and video games.
The impact of Gundam in Japan has been compared to the impact of Star Wars in the US.
Legendary Entertainment, the studio that is currently enjoying the blockbuster success of Godzilla vs. Kong, has teamed up with Netflix to bring the live-action movie to life with details about the plot of the project being kept firmly under wraps for now.
No casting announcements have been made as yet, but it’s believed the film’s working title is simply Gundam.
The blockbuster will stream on Netflix worldwide, except for in China where Legendary intends to premiere the film in cinemas. No release date has been announced, but it likely won’t be until 2023 as Netlfix works through the backlog of movies that were delayed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gundam will no doubt be a successful addition to Netflix’s already comprehensive library of anime titles, with the streaming platform surely hoping to reel in new subscribers worldwide eager to see the event picture when it premieres.
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