Netflix to Stream Live-Action Gundam Film

[Sidewinder]

From Anime News Network:

Netflix to Stream Live-Action Gundam Film; Jordan Vogt-Roberts to Direct

posted on 2021-04-12 14:00 EDT by Alex Mateo

Brian K. Vaughan to write script for Sunrise, Legendary's movie

Netflix announced on Twitter on Monday that it will stream Sunrise and Legendary Pictures' live-action Hollywood Gundam film, and that Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) will direct and produce the film.

Comic book author Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways) will write the script and serve as an executive producer for the film.

Legendary's executive vice president of production Cale Boyter (Pokémon Detective Pikachu producer) will oversee the project. Boyter appeared with Bandai Namco Holdings president and representative director Mitsuaki Taguchi at Anime Expo in July 2018 to announce the adaptation. Robert Napton, former Bandai Entertainment Director of Marketing and Legendary Comics' current Senior Vice President of Publishing, moderated the panel segment about the live-action film project.

Napton and Sunrise Executive Expert for film production Ken Iyadomi revealed at a talk at a Project Anime industry presentation in March 2019, that the Gundam Unicorn's cameo in Pacific Rim: Uprising helped create the relationships between Sunrise and Legendary Pictures, and set the scene for talks about a Gundam film project. Iyadomi said that although contacting the right people for the deal was difficult, the CEO of Sunrise was very easy to convince. Another factor that made the negotiations easier was that Legendary had less people, so decisions could be made quicker.

The "Gundam Franchise's New Work Unveiling" event in April 2018 had listed a tentatively titled Mobile Suit Gundam UC2 (Kidō Senshi Gundam UC2) project that would have an "overseas drama" format. The listing said the project takes place in Universal Calendar 0104 and would launch in 2022. After showing the listing at the April 2018 event, the Sunrise Studio's emcee and one of the event's guests, Gundam Unicorn novelist Harutoshi Fukui, quickly told the audience to "pretend you didn't see that" visual.

Source: NX on Netflix's Twitter account

Anyone have confidence this will be anything other than a dumpster fire?

[Crazedwraith]

What constitutes financial success for a netflix film? I guess they could see if there was a spike in memberships around release date but they don't have box office as a measure of success.

[Gandalf]

Yeah, and Netflix are quite secretive about their viewing data. So I'm not sure what Sidewinder had in mind.

[bilateralrope]

What constitutes financial success for a netflix film? I guess they could see if there was a spike in memberships around release date but they don't have box office as a measure of success.

I think it's based around how many people watch it. Maybe with some weighting based on how quickly someone watches it and/or how much they watch.

But as Gandalf says, Netflix doesn't share that data beyond which shows had top 10 viewship in various countries.

[Cykeisme]

What constitutes financial success for a netflix film? I guess they could see if there was a spike in memberships around release date but they don't have box office as a measure of success.

I think it's based around how many people watch it. Maybe with some weighting based on how quickly someone watches it and/or how much they watch.

But as Gandalf says, Netflix doesn't share that data beyond which shows had top 10 viewship in various countries.

Hmm, there's probably a lot of good information they can derive from the piles of raw data they have available to them.

For example, imagine if there was a show we produced, where a lot of new customers immediately began subscribing to Netflix for the very first time just as the series was slated to air its first episode, and then watch that particular series. If we were the people deciding what shows to continue funding/producing, I think this would be a pretty strong indicator that the series basically pulled in a ton of new customers, and we should probably keep making more of it.

[Jub]

I went the other way. It's not anything logical, logically my expectations are rather low, but I have a feeling that critics could end up praising the visuals and the 'deep' plot while fans nit-pick every flaw and nobody outside of Japan cares about it.

[GrosseAdmiralFox]

Eh, I'm not surprised that it is SEED that got the live-action treatment. Largely because the UC fandom would absolutely riot if they tried to make another UC live-action movie, and they represent a rather significant percentage of Gundam's consumer base.

Also, the West absolutely hates SEED, for both the right and wrong reasons.

[Ralin]

Also, the West absolutely hates SEED, for both the right and wrong reasons.

We do?

[Darth Yan]

It was unpopular for a while. I think that as time passes people are growing more positive.

[GrosseAdmiralFox]

Also, the West absolutely hates SEED, for both the right and wrong reasons.

We do?

In the Gundam Community? Oh boy. It also didn't help that the writer really loved getting on the soapbox.

It was unpopular for a while. I think that as time passes people are growing more positive.

You would think but, not exactly I'm afraid. The sad reality is that the writer really got on the West's nerves. While things have cooled a bit, it hasn't cooled entirely.

Then again, Gundam SEED DESTINY exists...

[Ralin]

Also, the West absolutely hates SEED, for both the right and wrong reasons.

We do?

In the Gundam Community? Oh boy. It also didn't help that the writer really loved getting on the soapbox.

It was unpopular for a while. I think that as time passes people are growing more positive.

You would think but, not exactly I'm afraid. The sad reality is that the writer really got on the West's nerves. While things have cooled a bit, it hasn't cooled entirely.

Then again, Gundam SEED DESTINY exists...

This seems like the sort of thing like giving examples would be appropriate.

[GrosseAdmiralFox]

We do?

In the Gundam Community? Oh boy. It also didn't help that the writer really loved getting on the soapbox.

It was unpopular for a while. I think that as time passes people are growing more positive.

You would think but, not exactly I'm afraid. The sad reality is that the writer really got on the West's nerves. While things have cooled a bit, it hasn't cooled entirely.

Then again, Gundam SEED DESTINY exists...

This seems like the sort of thing like giving examples would be appropriate.

Can't give much in terms of examples, but given that 'Jesus Yamato' is still being used as a derogatory term should speak for itself.

[Tribble]

In the Gundam Community? Oh boy. It also didn't help that the writer really loved getting on the soapbox.

You would think but, not exactly I'm afraid. The sad reality is that the writer really got on the West's nerves. While things have cooled a bit, it hasn't cooled entirely.

Then again, Gundam SEED DESTINY exists...

This seems like the sort of thing like giving examples would be appropriate.

Can't give much in terms of examples, but given that 'Jesus Yamato' is still being used as a derogatory term should speak for itself.

Is that the one with the sex scene and the main character surviving large point blank explosions in a ripped open cockpit?

[GrosseAdmiralFox]

This seems like the sort of thing like giving examples would be appropriate.

Can't give much in terms of examples, but given that 'Jesus Yamato' is still being used as a derogatory term should speak for itself.

Is that the one with the sex scene and the main character surviving large point blank explosions in a ripped open cockpit?

Don't know the sex scene but surviving the large explosion point-blank is one of the other gripes.