Streaming giant Netflix has announced that filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) will direct and produce a live-action adaptation of the wildly popular anime series Gundam. Mobile Suit Gundam, first launched in 1979 as a TV series gained popularity through the 1980s due to multiple adaptations in the form of animated feature films, novels, manga, toys, models and video games.
The original series, set in the distant future in what is known as the Universal Century, follow human colonies in a space fighting for independence from Earth. The battles are fought largely through giant robots called Mobile Suits.
As of now, there are details about the storyline that the Netflix adaption will adopt. Comic book writer Brian K Vaughan will write the screenplay and executively produce. Legendary’s Cale Boyter is overseeing the project, along with Sunrise, the Japanese animation studio behind the Gundam franchise.
Vogt-Roberts, known for his directorial debut The Kings of Summer and Warner Bros’ Kong: Skull Island, is also currently developing an adaptation of the popular video game franchise Metal Gear Solid for Sony Pictures, with Oscar Isaac attached to star.