Netflix's Sydney Sweeney Gundam Movie is a 'Big Action-Romance Space' Epic
Overview & Key Takeaways
Noah Centineo says Netflix's Mobile Suit Gundam Movie with Sydney Sweeney is a 'non-Shakespearian Romeo and Juliet' story
The live-action Gundam film has been in the works in some form or another since 2018. A director and cast have been announced, including high-profile names like Sydney Sweeney joining the project. Still, hard details on exactly what the adaptation of the legendary mech anime series will look like have been almost non-existent. Now one of the movie's stars is pulling back the curtain ever so slightly.
Talking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz, Gundam star Noah Centineo revealed the movie is a "big action romance space movie." Centineo continued by describing Gundam as, "a non-Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet in space." That is a bit of a confusing statement but what I think Centineo means is that the film is about star-crossed lovers on the opposite sides of a generational conflict. That sounds like it could fit perfectly within established Mobile Suit Gundam lore, as the series often focuses on the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon in the Universal Century timeline.
Centineo did confirm to Horowitz that the Gundam film will take place in the Universal Century. This timeline is where a number of the most iconic shows and movies in the Gundam franchise have occurred, including the original series that started it all. While we don't know exactly when in the timeline the live-action film will take place, concept art released in 2021 showed the iconic RX-78-2 Gundam suit from the original series. That concept art, however, was shown while Jordan Vogt-Roberts was attached as director. Vogt-Roberts was later replaced with Jim Mickle.
Image: Netflix/Legendary/Bandai Namco
Noah Centineo and Sydney Sweeney won't be the only familiar faces in the movie. They'll be joined by the likes of Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery) and Michael Mando (Spider-Man: Brand New Day) among others. Netflix has not set a release date for the movie, but filming wrapped only a few weeks ago at the end of July. Gundam fans have a lot to look forward to right now. In addition to the live-action movie, a new animated series, Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, is set to be released in 2027. A game set in the same universe as the show, Gundam Rogue Orbit, will also be released next year.
