Gundam: Brian K. Vaughan to write live-action adaptation
Deadline brings word that Brian K. Vaughan, comic book creator of Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and bestselling author, will adapt the screenplay for Gundam, the live-action feature based on Sunrise’s popular Mecha anime and sci-fi media franchise.
Vaughan will also serve as executive producer on the Legendary Entertainment project, which is being co-produced by Sunrise. Mobile Suit Gundam, the mecha anime series that launched Gundam as a media and toy franchise, will be celebrating its 40th anniversary next month. Yoshiyuki Tomino created the series in 1979.
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The series is set in 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.
Gundam’s Sunrise and Legendary announced at the 2018 Anime Expo last year that they would be teaming up on the production of the adaptation for a franchise that was spawned nearly 40 years ago and has amassed a large fanbase across its various outlets including TV shows, manga, novels and other forms of media. Gundam has generated billions in the decades since and altered the course of anime while rewiring the ambitions and aesthetics of the mecha genre entirely. The plot details for the live-action adaptation are currently being kept under wraps, with Cale Boyter from Legendary’s creative department overseeing the project.
