‘Gundam’: ‘Sweet Tooth’ Showrunner to Direct Legendary’s Movie!!

Legendary‘s long-in-the-works Gundam movie finally has its mecha pilot. Jim Mickle, showrunner of Netflix‘ Sweet Tooth, will direct and write the upcoming live-action feature. Deadline reports that Mickle will also produce the film.

An American live-action Gundam project, based on the popular Japanese anime franchise, has been in development for years; Legendary first announced the project in 2019. Comics writer Brian K. Vaughn (Saga, Runaways, Y: The Last Man) was announced to be writing the script later that year, and in 2021 Jordan Voght-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) was announced to be directing the film for Netflix. According to Deadline, however, neither Voght-Roberts nor Netflix are involved with the project now. The upcoming film will be the second-ever live-action Gundam project: a Canadian live-action Gundam film, G-Savior, was released theatrically in Japan in 1999, and direct-to-DVD in the rest of the world.

What Is ‘Gundam’ About?

The Gundam franchise began with the 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the series takes place in Earth’s future, and centers around a war between the Earth Federation and the rebellious space colonies of the Principality of Zeon. The combatants use enormous humanoid mechanoids, known as Gundams, as weapons of war. The series focuses on youthful Earth Federation Gundam pilot Amuro Ray, and his Red Baron-like Zeon rival Char Aznable. The series initially suffered from low ratings and was canceled, but the sales of Gundam model kits revived the series, which has become a mainstay of Japanese pop culture and gave birth to the entire mecha anime genre. Some subsequent Gundam series, like Gundam: Hathaway, have followed the timeline of Mobile Suit Gundam, serving as sequels and prequels to the series; others, like Gundam Wing and The Witch From Mercury, take place in alternate universes.

Gundam will mark Mickle‘s return to the big screen. He began his directorial career with the horror films Mulberry Street, Stake Land, and We Are What We Are. He subsequently adapted the Joe R. Lansdale novel Cold in July into a film starring Michael C. Hall, and then adapted Lansdale‘s Hap and Leonard books into a TV series that ran for three seasons on SundanceTV. His most recent film was the 2019 science fiction thriller In the Shadow of the Moon. He is also attached to direct a feature adaptation of Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw‘s comic book series God Country. He will co-produce Gundam with his partner Linda Moran through their company Nightshade.