The first teaser trailer of Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island is here.The trailer was posted to the movie's official Twitter account, alongside the tagline "Gundam rises again." The new movie is an adaptation of the 15th episode of the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, Cucuruz Doan's Island. The original episode is known for its anti-war themes and numerous animation errors, the latter of which will hopefully not be recreated in the new theatrical feature. The teaser trailer begins with several scenes from the original anime before showing newly animated footage of the series' original protagonist, Amuro Ray, launching his RX-78-2 Gundam, which is now rendered in the more detailed CGI style that has been used in some of the more recent Gundam anime and movies. The film is currently scheduled for a summer 2022 premiere window in Japan. Details about the movie's international release have yet to be announced.
Mobile Suit Gundam was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who wrote and directed the series' 1979 debut. While the series is now a staple of the anime industry and Japanese pop culture, it initially premiered with abysmally low ratings that resulted in a prompt cancellation. The series eventually bounced back thanks to re-runs and the popularity of Bandai's "Gunpla" plastic model kits. The show is now considered one of the most influential anime of all time, as it helped to launch the more grounded and politically-focused "real robot" subgenre of mecha anime. Gundam is a now multi-billion dollar franchise with countless anime, manga and video games adaptations, sequels and spin-offs. Netflix and Tomorrow Pictures, the production company behind the new and quickly canceled live-action Cowboy Bebop series, are currently producing a Gundam reboot of their own.
Cucuruz Doan's Island should help ease the wait for the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway. The original movie premiered in Japan earlier this year to the franchise's best box-office performance since 1988's Char's Counterattack, and was released internationally through Netflix just weeks after its Japanese debut. The Hathaway story is set in the same Universal Century continuity as Cucuruz Doan's Island, but takes place several years later, after the conclusion of the Zeonic wars. The sequel will also feature the return of Bright Noa, who should also appear in the Cucuruz Doan's Island movie. The producer of Gundam Hathaway recently warned fans that production on the second part of the planned Hathaway trilogy has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the next movie in the series might not be ready until 2024 at the earliest.
Source: Twitter