Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island will have a short theatrical run in the United States.
According to Crunchyroll, the latest film in the mega-multimedia franchise will play in select theaters in the US on Sept. 27 and 28. Cucuruz Doan’s Island will also feature in theaters in the United Kingdom on Sept. 21 and 22 and in theaters in Australia for one week, starting on Sept. 29. Information about purchasing tickets can be found on CrunchyrollMovieNight.com.
Cucuruz Doan’s Island adapts and expands the 15th episode from the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime, which first aired its 43 episodes from April 1979 to January 1980. The story sees Gundam pilot and series protagonist Amuro Ray and his comrades trapped on a remote island, forced to fend off enemy mecha attacks while also protecting a group of children. The new movie fills in the few remaining plot gaps from the original show and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's Gundam: The Origin manga.
Mobile Suit Gundam is a cornerstone of the manga and anime community and is considered by many to be one of the main codifiers of the mecha or giant robot subgenre. As of this year, its annual revenue has reached over 101 billion yen (approximately $709 million), and more than a substantial portion of those earnings comes from the sale of toys and hobby items like gunpla kits.
Moreover, Bandai Namco's franchise includes a myriad of anime and manga series, video games, tie-in novels, movies and theme-park attractions. There are even life-sized versions of iconic Gundam suits on display throughout Japan. Since November 2021, Yokohama's Gundam Base, which is a store and museum dedicated entirely to the science fiction franchise, has been giving children the opportunity to actually pilot its 59-foot tall RX-78-2 statue.
Fans of the Anime Have a Lot To Look Forward To
Fans of Mobile Suit Gundam have more to be excited about than just the upcoming western premieres of the Cucuruz Doan's Island film; the newest anime series in the franchise, The Witch From Mercury, is set to debut in October. The series will follow Suletta Mercury, and her special suit, the Gundam Aerial, an experimental mecha that was developed on the solar system's first planet. Kana Ichinose (Darling in the Franxx) stars as Suletta, and other members of the cast include Atsushi Ono (Great Pretender), Hiroshi Tsuchida (Soul Eater) and Naoya Uchida (Hunter x Hunter).
Many of the anime series in the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, including the original, is available on Netflix and Crunchyroll.
Source: Crunchyroll