©Courtesy of Sunrise
Jim Mickle is reportedly set to write and direct Gundam, a new live-action film being created for Sunrise and Legendary Pictures. As reported in Deadline, production is expected to begin in early 2025, though few details are known about content.
Mickle, the showrunner for Sweet Tooth, will be producing the film with Linda Moran via their Nightshade entity. Originally, it had been announced that Jordan Vogt-Roberts (of Kong: Skull Island) would be directing the project, together with scriptwriter Brian K. Vaughan, the comic-book author. Netflix had initially hoped to stream the film worldwide.
Having made his anime debut with Stake Land, which won the Midnight Madness award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Mickle later directed We Are What We Are, which was shown at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. He also created Cold in July, another Sundance and Cannes offering, as well as the Hap and Leonard series for Sundance TV and AMC.
The global Gundam franchise was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate. It includes 83 animated series as well as a retail business for toys and other products. Total revenues are more than $600 million annually. The upcoming film will be its first live-action venture.
Two seasons of an earlier offering, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, are being streamed via Crunchyroll. In these episodes, Suletta Mercury is helped by the Gundum Aerial, a robot that gives her an advantage in combat, though she must conceal its true identity since such robots are illegal in her universe.
The CG-animated series Gundam: Requiem For Vengeance, was recently released on Netflix. The series described the antagonisms revealed in the original anime that pitted Amuro and Charo against each other.
With merchandising in mind, Premium Bandai is releasing new gear on behalf of the franchise, including jackets that have been inspired by Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran. The garments, priced at about US$370, have been described as offering a “sleek, fashionable look” for wearers. They are being produced by Alpha Industries, a major supplier to the US military for more than half a century.
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