In news coming out of Anime Expo, Legendary Pictures is set to produce a live action Gundam movie, teaming up with Sunrise, the owners of the franchise.
Launching in 1979 with the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, the franchise includes 14 television series, along with numerous OVAs, manga, books and video games, with annual sales reaching as high as ¥80 billion ($725 million).
Gundam takes place in a fictional universe in the Universal Century, where humanity’s growing population has led people to emigrate to space colonies. One such colony, the Principality of Zeon, declares independence from Earth, leading to a war which is fought with mechas known as Gundam.
The live-action Gundam movie becomes the latest Japanese property in the works at Legendary after the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu, both of which are set for release in 2019.
