Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is a compilation movie of the upcoming Gundam anime that opened in Japanese cinemas on January 17th, 2025. The film launched at number one in the Japanese box office and has remained in the top ten a month after release. The new Gundam motion picture ranked seventh in its fifth weekend, reaching the equivalent of 16.5 million USD at the box office. These new box office totals put Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- past the 1982’s Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, the third film in the original Mobile Suit Gundam compilation trilogy. Encounters in Space earned $14.88 million in current conversion, remaining the highest-grossing Gundam film for decades.
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However, -Beginning- still falls short of Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom‘s box office total. Seed Freedom took over Encounters in Space spot as the top-grossing Gundam film in 2024, achieving a cumulative gross of $35.5 million. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is currently paced to not catch up to Seed Freedom‘s total gross, but -Beginning– still has several more weeks in theaters and future release dates overseas, including North America. Bandai Namco Filmworks have begun including “special footage” in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- to tease the new series.
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Why Gundam GQuuuuuuX Can’t Match Seed Freedom
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is a big hit for the Gundam franchise and Bandai Namco, remaining number one at the Japanese box office for many weeks. Fans are excited for the new series as it is being co-produced by Studio Khara, the same team behind Neon Genesis Evangelion. The series also has connections to the original Mobile Suit Gundam show, hyping up the series to new levels more so than previous Gundam animes. Nonetheless, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- will most likely not catch up to Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom‘s box office total because of how popular Gundam Seed is in Japan.
Gundam Seed has had a tepid reception among fans in the West but has remained one of Japan’s most popular Gundam series. Seed enjoyed high ratings on Japanese airwaves and had high DVD and music sales, leading to a direct sequel Seed Destiny. The Seed series remains popular among the Japanese population, explaining Seed Freedom‘s huge success.
Even though there is a lot of hype for Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, the new series doesn’t have the same name recognition as Seed. That said, an eager and receptive American domestic market alongside the rest of GQuuuuuuX’s international release could still give SEED a run for its money.
The update comes courtesy of Oricon.
