New York Times bestselling and award-winning comic book creator, television and film writer Brian K. Vaughan has been officially tapped to pen a live-action adaptation of classic Japanaese IP, Gundam. Just in time for its 40th anniversary, the news comes following Legendary‘s shared announcement with Sunrise at Anime Expo in July 2018 prior to Vaughan’s three-year overall deal with Legendary the following December.
The original 1979 Gundam anime, from the mind of Tomino Yoshiyuki, is set in the Universal Century, an era in which humanity’s growing population has led people to emigrate to space colonies. Eventually, the people living in the colonies seek their autonomy, and launch a war of independence against the people living on Earth. Through the tragedies and discord arising from this human conflict, not only the maturation of the main character, but also the intentions of enemies and the surrounding people are sensitively depicted.
The battles in the story, in which the characters pilot robots known as mobile suits, are wildly popular. Through this element of its overall premise, Gundam became intergral in influencing and cultivating sci-fi anime, fantasy and live-action cinema over the years along with its other merchandising efforts; The character recently reappeared for a brief, soaring stint in Steven Spielberg’s fan service-loaded adaptation of Ready Player One last year from Warner Bros. Pictures.
The story for the current live-action version of Gundam is being kept under wraps while screenwriter Vaughan will also apply himself as exec producer according to Deadline‘s Amanda N’Duka and the news firm’s latest staff addition, Geoff Boucher.
Critically acclaimed, Vaughan’s works are the recipients of 14 Eisner Awards, 14 Harvey Awards and a Hugo Award for his work with artist Fiona Staples on their series, Saga. His other comic books include Paper Girls with artist Cliff Chiang, Ex Machina with artist Tony Harris, Barrier with artist Marcos Martin, and We Stand on Guard with artist Steve Skroce.
Vaughan is also exec producer on FX’s upcoming TV adaptation of his 2002 novel series, Y: The Last Man, from Michael Green and Aïda Croal and starring Diane Lane, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his first work in television, as a writer on the hit series Lost. He also developed Stephen King’s Under the Dome for Steven Spielberg and CBS, exec producing and co-showrunning its first season. His first feature film spec script, Roundtable, was purchased in a bidding war after landing on the Black List.