When it comes to Mobile Suit Gundam, the series needs little introduction. The anime took over lots of televisions during the ’90s and has only grown in popularity since. These days, the Gundam franchise has become a household name for millions, and its 40th anniversary has been met with lots of hype. Now, one of its well-known producers has opened up about Gundam and its live-action future.
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Recently, Naohiro Ogata made an appearance Anime Boston where he spoke with Anime Herald about Gundam. It was there the producer addressed the future of the franchise, and Ogata made sure to note that Hollywood’s live-action plans are just one part in their equation.
“We’re in a partnership with Legendary Pictures to develop the Gundam Hollywood movie. In terms of Gunpla, we’ve recently sold our 500,000,000th Gundam model kit. The trend we’re seeing for 2019 is that overseas sales will surpass domestic sales,” Ogata shared.
“We’re also celebrating the 40th anniversary of Gundam this April. Most of the special projects and titles we’re releasing in commemoration of this 40th anniversary have a heavy bent towards overseas sales, not just domestic.”
For those unfamiliar with Ogata, the man is someone who’s very familiar with the Gundam franchise. Ogata began working at Sunrise in 1997 and served as producer on several Gundam titles. From Unicorn to Thrunderbolt and Narrative, Ogata has done it all, and he seems to be keeping tabs on Hollywood’s vision for Gundam.
So far, there have been few details announced for the live-action film, but it was announced at Anime Expo a couple years back. Legendary Entertainment is said to be working with Sunrise on the film, and reports in March confirmed Brian K. Vaughn would pen its script. Now, fans are waiting to hear more about the project while keeping their fingers crossed for its success.
Are you excited for the future of Gundam? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most popular franchises in the world, and that popularity is only expected to grow as Sunrise continues to release new projects for the franchise. This includes new anime based in the original Universal Century storyline, which will next see a film trilogy based on the Hathaway’s Flash novels, a returning anime for its SD Gundam spin-offs, and even a brand new live-action movie coming to the West co-produced by Legendary, a studio who is currently in the midst of bringing a new take on Toho’s Godzilla franchise to the screen.
