GUNDAM LIVE ACTION

The animated giant-robot franchise Gundam is currently developing live-action film with Legendary Pictures. Celebrated comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan has signed on to write the script, according to THR.

Legendary Pictures is the media company that produces films like Pacific Rim, Godzilla (2014), and Kong: Skull Island. Sunrise is the animation studio that produces anime like as Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, and Code Geass.  In 2018, at Anime Expo, the two announced a partnership to produce a live-action adaptation of Gundam.

GUNDAM MOVIE WRITER

Brian K. Vaughan is a renowned comic book writer who has Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Saga, and many others. Hulu turned Runaways into a series in 2017, with a second season premiering in 2018.  Y: The Last Man has been in development as a film or TV series for over a decade. FX commissioned a pilot episode in 2018 starring Barry Keoghan and Lashana Lynch. FX ordered it to series in 2019.

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM

Mobile Suit Gundam first premiered on Japanese television in 1979 and focused on a more realistic depiction of giant-robots as machines of war.  This differed from previous giant-robot anime that portrayed the robots and their pilots as more heroic figures.  The pilots of Mobile Suit Gundam, on both sides of the conflict, were flawed characters that often reluctantly went into battle.  Therefore, a hallmark of the Gundam franchise is showing the tragedy of war for both the participants and the unlucky bystanders.

In the last 40 years, Gundam has produced over 20 television series, 16 original video animations, and 16 theatrical releases.  So, in 2018, Gundam was estimated to be the 15th highest-grossing media franchise of all time. It produced over $15 billion in revenue. Also, Gunpla, the plastic models of the robots in Gundam, have sold over 450 million units, with nearly 2,000 different models.

STUDIO PRESS RELEASE

The original Gundam series is set in the Universal Century, an era in which humanity’s growing population has led people to emigrate to space colonies. Eventually, the people living in the colonies seek their autonomy, and launch a war of independence against the people living on Earth. Through the tragedies and discord arising from this human conflict, not only the maturation of the main character, but also the intentions of enemies and the surrounding people are sensitively depicted. The battles in the story, in which the characters pilot robots known as mobile suits, are wildly popular.

LEGENDARY