If mecha anime went Hollywood.

[Sleepneeded127]

adapting a series would be wrong they should start a new like they did with comic movies they use thew characters and basic set up of them but in new stories. with gundam they could start off similar to MSG and Zeta having the main character's father inviled in the development of the gundam they end up using it but in a new unrelated story as any AU show. this would work for almost any anime keep the basic premise of the show just a new story.

[Imperial]

Gundam.
Why?
Original U.C. story line is the easiest to access and likely to appeal the most of all series.
Ease?
Yes, in that it's story is obviously a Sci-fi mock up of WW2.
Also, it's genre is "Sci-fi War."
(Robot genre is beginning to burgeon as well.)
This genre is already well established: Star Wars, Star Trek, Starship Troopers- must I go on? LOL
Anywho-it opens itself up to further sequels with established material that isn't widely known in the U.S.
Not only can they completely copy and or edit it, imagine the franchise they "will" make of it.
(Not mentioning merchandising and obvious international establishment.)

I don't think that would work so well. I believe Wing is the single most popular iteration of the Gundam franchise in the States, so it would have the biggest draw. Falling back on the Universal Century would alienate all but the hard core fans.

[Wulver]

Gundam.
Why?
Original U.C. story line is the easiest to access and likely to appeal the most of all series.
Ease?
Yes, in that it's story is obviously a Sci-fi mock up of WW2.
Also, it's genre is "Sci-fi War."
(Robot genre is beginning to burgeon as well.)
This genre is already well established: Star Wars, Star Trek, Starship Troopers- must I go on? LOL
Anywho-it opens itself up to further sequels with established material that isn't widely known in the U.S.
Not only can they completely copy and or edit it, imagine the franchise they "will" make of it.
(Not mentioning merchandising and obvious international establishment.)

I don't think that would work so well. I believe Wing is the single most popular iteration of the Gundam franchise in the States, so it would have the biggest draw. Falling back on the Universal Century would alienate all but the hard core fans.

See, the problem with that logic is that this would be a Hollywood film, and appealing just to ANY fanbase isn't the best idea, when the fanbase isn't a significantly huge one like Start Trek. hell, even in Star Trek some changes were made to make things more accessible.

So really, Universal Century is as fine a timeline to use as G Gundam's. Considering that most people going in wouldn't know what Gundam was anyway. Get what I'm saying?

Now, I mentioned the novels before as a possible source. the reason I say this is twofold. there's less to the novels, and they adopt a more realistic tone than the series. Less variety of mecha, Amuro being a military cadet, more graphic bloodshed at times, that kind of thing. You get a decent blend going between the novel's reality and the show's reality, and a workable script could be had. Granted, you'd still have to try for more than one film to have a full story, but, say, the entire first novel could be turned into a single film rather easily with just minor condensing.

Hell, let's not forget that they condensed a 43-episode series down to a film trilogy once before, yeah?

[Imperial]

See, the problem with that logic is that this would be a Hollywood film, and appealing just to ANY fanbase isn't the best idea, when the fanbase isn't a significantly huge one like Start Trek. hell, even in Star Trek some changes were made to make things more accessible.

I think a Hollywood film would be more likely to do that than not. Why has Hollywood gone after all these games and books and whatnot in order to adapt them? They were already popular in their original form so they want to cash in with a change. If it's all a matter of popularity (which it is), then of course Wing will be the front runner. Certainly, it might not be a Wing we easily recognize, but it will likely have the trappings of Heero and friends.

So really, Universal Century is as fine a timeline to use as G Gundam's. Considering that most people going in wouldn't know what Gundam was anyway. Get what I'm saying?

In a sense, but the casual person is probably going to identify with Wing more than any other facet of the franchise. It was on Toonami at a time when the anime fad was starting to catch on. Anyone who watched TV around that time is obviously going to feel more comfortable with Wing than the UC.

[AGC]

I agree with your statements on the more authentic adaptation that will lead to a more broader appeal to the new masses. I made the same acknowledgement with my reference to "the young lions" film.
After seeing Transformers 2 yesterday I have a change of heart about film adaptations. Especially those of Sci-fi war films. In Gundams case it's too big. A simple piece of the world would only be achieved in film medium. I'm starting to think the short CG films of the Igloo series is probably an attempt at this but probably a business card to Hollywood.

I would love to see a mini-series done live action. Like the anime 26 ep. format but done in live action. I could see Sci-fi channel or even possibly HBO of the sort picking it up.

I can see the critques of my statement now: "It wouldn't look good due to budget restraints and special effects of the robots."
To such ideas I say, bull !
For examples if you take a close look at films like Zathura by Jon Favreau. His model works aided by computer enhancement of the image looks great. Similar to the fashion of 2001: A space odyssey.

With that reference said I can move on to the actual proposal of such robots being done. Men dressed as the Mobile Suits themselves. Extracting the footage and placing it in a scene to make the MS costume look enormous. Add computer effects of dust, tree movement, cratered street foot prints and the special little touch of camera vibrations.

Now do I think of it ... it reminds me of Power Ranger stuff! LOL
All you need is good casting and great improvisation of Special Effects, and you're Gold! My thoughts.
Oh, t.v. shows count as Hollywood too. It's an either-or situation - either movie series or live action television series. I believe.

[Phantomexe87]

Certainly I seem to be in the minority when I think a Gundam movie could work, and even be profitable, if done right.

This notion that they would have to fit 50 episodes of whatever series into a single movie is just silly. You don't need all 50 episodes to make a decent, stand-alone movie with some closure. I would be against a direct adaption of UC's MSG. If Hollywood wants to make a good Gundam movie, they should take elements from the various series and use what works. The "realism" from 08th MS Team, for example.

Key is to make the first movie ambitious, but be pragmatic about it, if it does well, then you can go nuts with a sequel. Like the X-Men movies.

You don't need to have thousands of mobile suits on the screen in a first movie.

Transformers proves people like watching giant robots from Japan blowing things up if they're pretty enough and the explosions loud enough.

The only real issue I can foresee is negative fan reaction to the redesign of the mobile suits for live-action adaptation. So, Hollywood will have to put up with the 5 angry American Gundam fans.

[ShadowCell]

Transformers is not exactly "giant robots from Japan." There's an entire generation that grew up watching it in the 80s and it's gotten continual merchandising and advertising in the North American market since. There is no comparison between Transformers and Gundam in terms of profitability of movies.

[Mythgarr]

You see, Hollywood is an industry that relies on creativities that are built on a basis of ideas. If some Gundam fans end up working high up in Hollywood and can force other to watch Gundam multiverses (UC, AC, EC, AW, ETC) as a new, almost endless sources of multiyears (perhaps multidecade) chain of movie franchises ripe with spinoffs potentials and ready to be made with a plethore of current good stocks of writers, directors, and actors and special effects gurus, than why not?

Some adaptations will be needed, such as some changes on the appearances of RX-78-2 to suit the current mental images of Hollywood viewers brainwashed by Bayformers (more pointy robots and less boxy ones) and the mood of the series from serious tones of wars and philosophies to rather lighthearted and fun way of Star Trek (scifi, adventures, buddybuddy), but I think, if BANDAI and hollywood can agree on something, Gundam could explode big time in a good way.

It has big beam sword wielding robots, kick ass machineries, and vast stock of stories.

[ShadowCell]

If some Gundam fans end up working high up in Hollywood

pffffaaaahahahahahaha oh wait you're not serious are you?

I don't think you quite understood this whole "existing fanbase" thing. Star Trek and Transformers were big hits in part because they already had huge fanbases on which to rely, even if an unknown number of those fans were only going to see the movies so they could bitch about them afterward. Gundam does not have that huge fanbase in North America--certainly not in enough numbers to support the massive budget any kind of Gundam film would require. And Internet forums like this one are not indications of a major North American fanbase.

[Lans]

Yep, that's the case. Gundam just doesn't have enough fan base to justify large budget of Hollywood scale for make their own real action movie. Not to mention that, Gundam's storyline and theme couldn't possible attract a wide range of audience. It’s just too risky since it’s doubtful that normal people would pay to watch something entirely unknown to them.

Even Spiderman, Batman, or even Transformers need to wait for years before they were certain that there are enough fans in US or worldwide to sell the movie and merchandise. This is because there’s always risk of the result movies being bad, if there is enough fan base at least they could generate enough revenue to pay for the production cost. That’s the case with 90's Star Trek movies, it always almost weak and unsatisfactory even for general audience, but they still make profit out of it simply because there’s always a large group of Trekkie who would watch and buy the merchandise.

While we still butchering Hollywood's stupidly of making adaptation movies looks bad, they're still generating great profit, simply because their magic-formula of (usually) boys and girls, action, love + "additional stuff" works and successfully attracts the majority of movie goers.

There’s only a very small percentage (compared to the whole population) of people actually care about the story. Most only goes for the thrill, and forget about it after a while. No big deal, that's entertainment industry all about.

[ShadowCell]

Another point is that Star Trek, Transformers, Spiderman, and Batman are all cultural icons. Entire generations grew up with them. These shows and franchises are embedded in the culture, such that many people can look up at the latest movie and say "Hey, I remember that." That is not the case for Gundam in North America. It's better to compare a hypothetical Gundam movie to Dragonball Evolution or the Speed Racer movie--if unsatisfactory, because they both bombed.

[Mythgarr]

I stand on my case that "Gundam" is an almost endless source of creativities, a gold mine of ideas of some sort waiting to be mined by Hollywood. It's not about fanbases, not about generations of people who are attached to Gundam, but about ideas and ideas and ideas.

There are no widespread fanbases for something like The Matrix, but hey, it has two sequels!

It is a proof that if developed, promoted, and delivered right, any kind of ideas could generate enough interest!

[ShadowCell]

There are no widespread fanbases for something like The Matrix, but hey, it has two sequels!

It is a proof that if developed, promoted, and delivered right, any kind of ideas could generate enough interest!

...what are you talking about? The Matrix was the first DVD to sell three million copies, there's its fanbase right there. Of course there were fans who could be counted on to go see The Matrix's sequels.

And, uh, you know you're talking about Hollywood, right? If the endless stream of comic book movies, romantic comedies, and cookie-cutter action flicks weren't any indication, Hollywood is not about ideas and creativity, it's about making money. The original premise of this thread, after all, was to point and laugh at all the ways in which Hollywood could hypothetically butcher something like Gundam in pursuit of profit.

"If you build it, they will come" only worked in Field of Dreams. It does not work that way in reality.

[ZeroBusterXX]

As much as I would love to see a Gundam movie and think it could be done right, I KNOW better, it won't be the same and it will wind up changed into a Hollywood marketing scheme.

No matter what you say, Mythgarr, Gundam doesn't have the fanbase it had during the time that Wing was on TV. The DVDs sell some sure, but do you see Gunpla on regular store shelves anymore? Do you see Gundam on during the afternoon? No, because the fad is over. If fads really do go in circles, then Gundam may get some new life in America, but I am one doubtful fan.

I do remember reading something a few years ago, on a site (Gunota, maybe?) that said in an interview Tomino said interest in a live action Gundam movie had been raised by Transformers' success but that was all and nothing came of it. I just don't see Gundam at the top of any Hollywood exec's "must remake in live-action list".

[ShadowCell]

I also doubt that the mecha aspect of mecha anime, Gundam in particular, would do well in the North American movie market. Consider that for most North American moviegoers, their exposure to giant robots has been in the form of Transformers or things like Power Rangers--cartoons, shows geared towards kids, in which the giant robots are portrayed in a cartoonish way (even if it's live action). Several people say that UC Gundam could be the basis of some hypothetical movie, but UC is about as far as you can get within Gundam from the spirit of shows like Transformers. Especially if you're trying to remake 08th MS Team or 0083 or something in that spirit for the North American audience, people will just see it as trying to mash up Power Rangers with Saving Private Ryan.

That would ultimately be the same thing that helped screw over the North American Gundam franchise in general. They followed up Wing with Mobile Suit Gundam, a show unlike Wing in spirit and alienating to the fans who thought they were getting something like Wing. Substitute "Gundam movie" for Mobile Suit Gundam and Transformers or Power Rangers for Wing and you've got the same mess all over again. And this is another reason why the comparison to Transformers is so faulty.

If any studio were brave/foolish enough to try a live-action remake of a Gundam show, either Wing or something like G Gundam would be my first guesses, actually. Wing was the most successful and stands the best chance of being remembered by anyone outside the hardcore fans; and G Gundam doesn't go trying to treat its mecha like legitimate weapons of war and then try to tell a compelling war drama with all these giant robots running around. It's the most similar to the giant robot franchises already familiar to the North American market. It's also the most kid-friendly entry in the franchise, which means it has the most potential for toy marketing.

Either way, though, that would all be predicated on the assumption that some studio is willing to take a chance on dredging the waters of the Gundam well, which already failed here once before.

[Mythgarr]

I should have said:

There were no fanbase for something like The Matrix, but it spawned two sequels. There!

There were also no fanbase for something like Power Rangers before it, but it sells up to now.

The list can go on and on.

So a live action movie called Gundam could be well become a start of a long line of franchises, if given right treatments. It might not be soulless too. Give two characters who have doubts with their roles on each side and have , manipulative bastards on each side, funny side characters, and big bombastic earthside and spaceside mecha battles, and it's all set.

[ShadowCell]

I'm starting to think you're not actually reading the posts in this thread. If you're trying to say that a Gundam movie could be so awesome and popular that it'd sell like The Matrix, then I need to get the name of your drug dealer. That's some good stuff you're on.

The Matrix is a terrible comparison anyways because both its sequels wound up getting panned. Furthermore, your entire premise falls apart when someone--like, say, me--points out that The Matrix was the start of its own franchise. A live-action Gundam movie would be piggybacking off of an existing franchise that is moribund in the North American market. You're comparing apples and, like, buckets. And Power Rangers is marketed as a kids' show, so unless you're willing to see a live-action SD Gundam Force, that comparison does not work either.

And, y'know, you'd have to get Sunrise to sign off on it.

Gundam tanked in America. A movie isn't going to bring it back, nor is it going to spawn a new franchise. If anything, it could put Gundam in North America even deeper in the hole by bombing and convincing Bandai that the North American market isn't even worth what few bones they're throwing it already--which is why I'd rather Hollywood keep its mitts off the franchise and not screw up what we've still got.

[manmiles]

I should have said:

There were no fanbase for something like The Matrix, but it spawned two sequels. There!

There were also no fanbase for something like Power Rangers before it, but it sells up to now.

But just because there is or isn't a fanbase for something doesn't mean it'll equal popularity. Look at Star Wars, nowadays it's hard to imagine that before the first film came out that everybody in the industry thought it was going to be the biggest bomb imaginable. Spider-man, Batman et al have Western Pop-Culture resonance spanning generations, but attempts to cross-market these characters into Japan met with failure (anyone else read the old 70s Spider-Man comic where Yu Komori was bitten by a radioactive spider and became a version of Spidey more angsty than Peter Parker... and of course let's not forget the old Live-action series where Spider-man had a mech... now THAT is what I call not following your source material.)

It's the same with the Matrix, could've been the biggest flop imaginable, but it had an atom-bomb of popularity at the time (of course, the Matrix has seemingly gone the way of popularity as First Gundam in America). But both Star Wars and the Matrix have one thing in common- they're essentially distilled, reinterpretated repackaging of the old updated for the new, Star Wars was a bigger budgeted version of old Republic Serials and the Matrix is cyberpunk meets Hong Kong Kung-Fu movies, Power Rangers took old Sentai shows, crowbarred out anything that wasn't monsters, giant robots and action and created a brand-new universe/mytholgy around it. Hollywood shouldn't be trying to 'bring Gundam to the big Western Movie screens' but take what makes Gundam and other mecha anime so popular and create something new from it. It'd probably be less of a financial bomb for Hollywood, considering most internet fanboy's inability to accept anything that isn't 100% like what they watched as a kid.

[Lans]

There were no fanbase for something like The Matrix, but it spawned two sequels. There!

There were also no fanbase for something like Power Rangers before it, but it sells up to now.

The list can go on and on.

the matrix? yeah, right...

What's new anyway about the Matrix? It is just another normal and ordinary person leading an ordinary live, who then become the people’s champion. Adds with:
- The chosen one / messiah concept, complete with the prophecy and the believers
- War against machine, ZOMG machine invasion - Judgement day alternate style
- Hong Kong action movie, Kung Fu fighting, Bruce Lee style

Each of the attributes above are already proven to be common and acceptable materials for great range of audiences. Hollywood already got Terminator that fights against machine, Bruce Lee's action movies for Kung Fu fighting, and stuff like Frank Herbet's Dune Series for the coming of the promised messiah. Matrix’s first movie is just a mix and match of the attributes above. It's easy to understand that movie with those criteria would be acceptable to general audience.

The only bad rep about it that I knew is because the script was based on unknown people's work (Wachowsky Brother or something) and that they insisted on their unknown at the time, futuristic theme. To me, it's just another type of black advertising to gather attention and free spot on movie magazine, internet, and newspaper articles.

before anyone could give a damn about the story, the hero finally fought the bad guys. And as usual against all odds the hero wins and save the day. People already left the cinema, talking about Keanu's fighting scene and waited for the next release. I don’t think only few percentages really give a thought about what Matrix really are when they finished the first movie. Just because the action packed Matrix I reached success, it doesn’t mean that “the matrix” unique story itself is easily accepted by general audience.

Take a look at Matrix II and III, people starting to irked when the movies starting to enter deeply into the storyline. Successful movie doesn’t mean people would automatically be interested in its story. Even LOTR have its fair share of using Orlando Bloom to attract even more greater range of audience (read: female), or else Legolas wouldn't have that much of airing time in the third movie.

Do they really pay attention to the story? I don’t think so, most I knew already lost on Rohan and Minas Tirith, not to mention getting confused about Saruman and Sauron. Not blaming them tho, since not all people watch film to enjoy the story. Some only in for the thrill or have other purposes (read: spent time with friends or family). It is unfortunate that not all stories could be easily digested by general audience. Not all is as easy as Harry Potter.

[Shea]

This happens a lot doesn't it?
A thread you make out to be a humorous, time killing tool gets turned into an argue fest.

The whole point of this thread is to think of good possible transitions to the big screen, while bringing up bad transitions in a humorous fashion. But some are content to just bicker about Gundam in the movies AGAIN, and of course the dream crusher brigade comes rolling in, and the fighting either never stops, or my thread gets locked. Please stop this bickering. I would like for this thread to a lasting and fun time killer, instead of another plaque on the wall of shame.

And ShadowCell, I know that you're probably not going to listen to me and you'll probably toss a warning my way, but please, for the love of all that is holy, LET PEOPLE DREAM! It won't kill you to let the fans ponder and hope.