Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

News from Legendary Entertainment, concerning a deal between them and Sunrise.

https://www.legendary.com/legendary-to-produce-live-action-feature-film-based-on-sunrises-wildly-popular-gundam-franchise/

Multi-platform Animated Juggernaut to be Translated into

Live-Action Film for the First Time

Los Angeles, CA – July 05, 2018 – Legendary and Sunrise announced today at Anime Expo 2018, plans to co-produce the first-ever live-action feature film version of GUNDAM, based on Sunrise’s massively popular Mecha anime and science fiction media franchise. The billion dollar property was created in 1979 and has spawned a multi-platform universe encompassing televised anime, manga, animated films, video games, plastic models, toys, and novels among other media. Gundam continues to dominate master toy licensee Bandai Namco’s earnings almost forty years after its inception.

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.

The story for the live-action version of Gundam is being kept under wraps.

The project will be overseen by Cale Boyter on behalf of Legendary with the Sunrise creative team.

Well, interesting at the very least. I liked Godzilla 2014 and Kong:Skull Island, and the First Pacific Rim was good (haven't seen the new one). Maybe there is a slight chance this works out?

Meh? I discount anime made into live action stories until I see a trailer. So many of them never get off the floor.

 AduroT wrote:
Meh? I discount anime made into live action stories until I see a trailer. So many of them never get off the floor.

I am still waiting for Tobey Macguirre's Robotech film.

Well - it would have to be a series.
Wing is way too long to condense into a 2 hour movie. Wing is what they would want to push as it was the most popular.

Why? Just... what benefit does a live action medium bring to giant robots, cheesy explosions and long rants about the benefits of pacifism from people with ridiculously high body counts?

Dammit people, didn't we learn our lesson from G-Saviour? You don't live action Gundam. You just don't.

Because a large Hollywood successful box office will net more money than any Gundam series will...it's just money.

If this happens then Robotech probably won't happen (which would be good, I don't think I want to see them smear it).

 Xenomancers wrote:
Well - it would have to be a series.
Wing is way too long to condense into a 2 hour movie. Wing is what they would want to push as it was the most popular.

Wings popularity relative to the franchises other incarnations is a debate that could run and run But the point about its length, not to mention its complexity would IMO apply to any attempt to adapt most of them into a single movie. Unless they are really confident and intend to go for multiple films straight off the bat, the best bet would probably be to either make a new AU or tell a new story set within one of the existing timelines.

squidhills wrote:
Dammit people, didn't we learn our lesson from G-Saviour? You don't live action Gundam. You just don't.

I take it that the Movie was somewhat less than good?

 Trondheim wrote:

squidhills wrote:
Dammit people, didn't we learn our lesson from G-Saviour? You don't live action Gundam. You just don't.

I take it that the Movie was somewhat less than good?

It was very uneven. Some of the performances were decent, others were dire. The CG was terrible... below the standards even for the time it was made. The MS designs were uninspired, with only the titular G-Saviour looking good. Plus, for something that was allegedly set in the UC timeline, none of the MS showed any of the design characteristics of the late UC period (no panoramic cockpit screens, no shot lancers, no beam shields). It was too ambitious for it's own good, aspiring to summer blockbuster spectacle with a TV movie budget.

I basically look at it as "the more I like the original anime, the more the live action movie will suck" is a universal constant. I was indifferent to Ghost in the Shell, and the live action didn't look bad at all. I was a rather big fan of Fist of the North Star, and I wouldn't wish the viewing experience of the live action movie on my worst enemy.


So I will just assume that the live action will be terrible for Gundam, and maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

GoatboyBeta wrote:

 Xenomancers wrote:
Well - it would have to be a series.
Wing is way too long to condense into a 2 hour movie. Wing is what they would want to push as it was the most popular.

Wings popularity relative to the franchises other incarnations is a debate that could run and run But the point about its length, not to mention its complexity would IMO apply to any attempt to adapt most of them into a single movie. Unless they are really confident and intend to go for multiple films straight off the bat, the best bet would probably be to either make a new AU or tell a new story set within one of the existing timelines.

Yeah - agreed. That would be the best way to go with it.

I think other than a completely new AU, the One Year War would be the best place for them to start. There's any number of possibilities they could take on from that time frame of the UC alone. First that came to mind (but worried me the most) was condensing War in the Pocket into a single 2 hour movie.

If they go all out with a huge budget with realistic action and a darkish story, it might work. If they cut corners and fill the cast with B-list actors its probably going to suck.

As a fan of the original since it first came out, I am apprehensive about it. Its hard to define Gundam to people who haven't heard of it before, with all the different universes (or within the same depending on what you want to believe). Anything they try to do within a couple of hours will seemed rushed.

But over the last decade, I have been more disappointed in the different directions Gundam has taken. I guess I am a UC fan first and foremost, but even thats been bled to death. I hope they try to do a Zeon/Fed storyline versus some new universe, but the Zeon/Fed story might be complicated to tell in a limited amount of time.

After Transformers, Star Wars, GI Joe, I just accept that more of my childhood favorites will be ruined.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I hate Gundam Wing, but that storyline might actually be the easiest to convert to a movie.

Is it though? And I don't mean any disrespect to Gundam here- 08th MS Team is incredible.

But all a Gundam movie has to do is establish there's a war between the colonies and Earth, and that it has stalemated. Both sides are working on secret projects, giant flying robots called Gundams. One or more Gundams fall into the hands of plucky teenagers, and they fight.

Along the way, these kids discover the horrors of war, and wonder if fighting really solves anything, as they use their skills to mulch the opposing army, before having some super cool duels with lots of yelling at each other.

For flavor, add tragic backstory, or psychic abilities, or maybe Voltron style combining mechs.

 VictorVonTzeentch wrote:
I think other than a completely new AU, the One Year War would be the best place for them to start. There's any number of possibilities they could take on from that time frame of the UC alone. First that came to mind (but worried me the most) was condensing War in the Pocket into a single 2 hour movie.

I think the most likely possibility, if the studio decides to adapt an existing work is either: the Gundam compilation movies (which condensed the original series into 3 2 hour movies) or Tomino's Gundam Novels (which are wonky as feth... they never set foot on Earth, Amuro dies at the 2/3 mark, and Char becomes the main character after hooking up with the White Base crew). Neither of those would be ideal, in my opinion. I'd like them to do an original story set in the One Year War, but I have a feeling the studio will want to hedge it's bets with a proven success and that's the compilation movies.

I'm trying to think, has there been a stand-alone Gundam movie that doesn't require any previous knowledge of the franchise or setting? F91, maybe, but even that started life as a series that got condensed into movie form after conception.

IIRC al the animated Gundam movies have either been condensed adaptions, sequels or spin offs of the assorted series.

They could probably tell a Universal Century Lite story in a 2-2.5 hour film. Just cut out a lot of the extra narration and moping. Just run the basics.

Kid finds experimental mobile weapon, joins up with stranded experimental warship and fights off masked antagonist who switches sides towards the end of the film to get revenge against the real antagonist during a final climatic battle. Final confrontation between Kid who just wants the war to end and masked antagonist who doesn't know anything but. Add in some lines about the futlity/cruelty of war and you've got a Gundamn movie XD

Really I think the key to success will be sticking to simplicity and not over complicating the plot.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

GoatboyBeta wrote:
Well - it would have to be a series.
Wing is way too long to condense into a 2 hour movie. Wing is what they would want to push as it was the most popular.

Wing is easily one of the most popular Gundams in the West, but honestly it would be the worst one to pick for this. Wing was a horribly tightly packed narrative that tended to meander and bounce around wildly because someone decided "let's tell the entire UC story in an alternate setting with only 49 episodes" and no one responded with "how the hell do we compact the contents of 150 episodes and a movie into 1/3 of the time?" Wing was good, but Wing is far too dense to make it into movie form imo.

Really the basic premise of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (which might as well be a remake of the original) is easily adaptable and probably a better pick for its relative simplicity.

00's premise could also be easily adapted but 00 was too esoteric I think. The effort needed to condense it into a good movie isn't worth imo. Really any series that had a team of Gundams is probably a bad pick.

As far as condensing a story down to its basics: Macross pulled that off with Do You Remember Love, so anything is possible.

 Just Tony wrote:
As far as condensing a story down to its basics: Macross pulled that off with Do You Remember Love, so anything is possible.

Macross as a series was filled to the brim with filler. Reused frames, lines, and backgrounds abound through the entire production, and the original series itself is 36 episodes long with a very straightforward plot. Gundam Wing in comparison reuses a lot of frames for action sequences, but continually had new set pieces, backgrounds, and a revolving door of mobile suits, antagonists, and side characters that make condensing its story without becoming so basic its stupid very difficult imo.

So condense 08th MS Team instead. Nobody said it HAD to be Gundam Wing.

I'm just spitballing.

Honestly if I guessed they'd be doing something along the lines of the original series, just because it's the original series. I don't feel like 08th MS Team has much appeal outside of people who already like Gundam, while Legendary will probably be looking to market this film to people who've never heard of it before as much as people who have.

Or surprise everyone by basing it on G Gundam,

I'm hopeful. Star Trek (probably the closest equivalent franchise) was able to tell a decent single-movie origin story in a new continuity, after all.