Netflix Circles Legendary’s Live-Action GUNDAM Movie With Sydney Sweeney and Noah Centineo
Legendary’s long-gestating live-action take on Gundam movie is finally starting to lock into place, and it looks like Netflix wants to be the home for it. According to Deadline, the streamer is circling the project as distributor, with Sydney Sweeney and Noah Centineo attached to star and Jim Mickle stepping in to direct.
Mickle, who previously helmed Sweet Tooth, also wrote the script and will produce alongside his partner Linda Moran under their Nightshade banner. The film has been co-developed by Legendary and franchise owner Bandai Namco Filmworks, making this a serious, top-tier push for one of anime’s most respected properties.
Now, here’s hate I hate about this. A live-action Gundam movie absolutely begs to be seen on a massive screen. Giant robots. Space warfare. Mobile suits clashing at full scale. That’s premium-format material all day long.
Landing at Netflix likely means no IMAX, no Dolby Cinema, and no true theatrical experience. Maybe we’ll get a limited release, but if this ends up locked to living rooms only, that’s a real letdown for a franchise built on sheer scale.
Story details are being kept under wraps, but the movie will mark the very first live-action entry in the Gundam universe. That alone makes this a huge moment for fans who’ve waited decades to see these iconic machines brought to life outside of animation.
Gundam helped define the mecha genre and reshaped sci-fi storytelling. Set in the Universal Century timeline, the story imagines a future where humanity has expanded into space. Political tensions between Earth and its colonies spiral into full-scale war, fought by pilots inside towering mechanized weapons known as mobile suits. T
he franchise began with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979 and was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Since then, it has exploded into 83 animated series and films and a merchandising empire that reportedly pulls in around $600 million every year.
This project has had a winding road. Legendary first announced a Gundam movie with Netflix back in 2021, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts attached to direct after his success on Kong: Skull Island. That version ultimately fell apart, with both Vogt-Roberts and Netflix stepping away. Now the streamer appears ready to jump back in.
Whether this becomes a must-watch sci-fi event or a missed opportunity tied to streaming limitations will depend on how Netflix handles the release.
One thing’s clear though. Seeing Gundam finally going live-action is exciting as hell. Let’s just hope the scale of the movie matches the scale of the machines.