At this year's Anime Expo, Japanese animation studio Sunrise announced that they were pairing up with Pacific Rim producer Legendary Entertainment to create a live-action Gundam film. Clearly impressed by the California based (but Chinese owned) studio, it seems that the Hollywood giant mech genre is about to get it's first legitimate Japanese import. So how should it be done?
The only real piece of information beyond the above was a mention of the Universal Century timeline, which is essentially the "prime" timeline for Gundam stories. This is where the tale of Amuro Ray, civilian engineer, and his arch-nemesis to-be, Char Aznable, are first introduced. First airing on Japanese television in 1979, the series has gone through numerous iterations, parallel universes and multimedia storylines, with only the fundamentals remaining consistent. The template has been used across the Gundam franchises, but what every Gundam story should have is:
Space Colonies:
Human habitats in space, the birthplace of Newtypes, those with special cognitive abilities that aid their piloting skills
2 opposing factions:
In the case of UC, these are Zeon of the space colonies, and the United Earth Federation. The conflict usually revolves around the colonies wanting independence, and the UEF wishing to retain an united human government. A bit like Brexit then!
A charismatic villain:
Char Aznable is more than a mere foil, he's the calculating, dashing anti-hero looking for a new way. His goals are understandable, often honourable and driven by personal tragedy. Any Gundam film (or franchise) worth its salt will have a masked blonde man flying around like Ace Rimmer and causing trouble. Hollywood isn't renowned for the depth of it's villains, it would be awesome for Gundam to provide a three-dimensional and sympathetic antagonist for our hero.
Mechs. Lots of em:
Gundam is a series driven by the real stars - robots that fly through space kicking the bolts out of each other. In the case of the original Gundam, only the RX-78 is truly special, with the rest of the military hardware struggling to keep up with its mighty and advanced ordnance. Later series mixed things up by adding multiple impressive mechs, such as Gundam Wing and Gundam SEED. I wouldn't be adverse to more than one main mech if the budget can stretch to it.
And beyond...
So those are the basics. But there's more to it than that; While the original tale is a strong one, the original Gundam TV series was cancelled due to low ratings, buoyed a year later by Bandai's model kits which dominated the market. So while purists may want to stick as closely as possible to the original, it should be remembered that it failed at home on the first run, so maybe calling on ideas from later series would be wise - a potent mix of Gundam's best attributes would be a powerful piece of cinema!
Gundam has been made in various styles over the years, from the retro-future Turn A Gundam (∀ Gundam) to the recent and critically acclaimed Thunderbolt series, which takes place during the original One Year War timeline, and could be short and popular enough to form the basis of the Hollywood version. Adapting something shorter could be the way to go here, as the last thing we need is the basis of another proposed trilogy or larger universe that ends in disaster, such as Universal's The Mummy or the recent woes of Disney's Star Wars. A contained film, like Marvel's original Iron Man from 2008.
Lastly, the story needs to concentrate on the people and not the mechs. Awesome as they are, the Gundams are a means to an end for the people who pilot them, so we need a solid script and actors capable of handling the drama. I don't have a specific cast in mind, but actors of the calibre of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman have proven capable of mixing fantasy and acting chops successfully. Though we'd likely need a younger core cast now, a sprinkling of experienced talent would be high on my list of "must-haves" to bring credibility to the project and guidance for the younger actors.
Whatever comes of the live-action Gundam franchise, with Legendary at the helm can at least expect some splendid visuals, and if Sunrise can control the direction of the story, we have every chance of creating every Gundam fans fantasy film.
Oh, and the toys would be more than welcome too, especially if the Soul of Chogokin Gypsy Danger is anything to go by!
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