Sony Pictures announced at CinemaCon on Monday that it has picked up the live-action, English-language giant robot film Grandgear for a February 18, 2028, release.
Takashi Yamazaki, the director behind the 2023 global hit Godzilla Minus One, will write and direct the project. The production also features involvement from J.J. Abrams' production company, Bad Robot.
While the film has been in development for some time, Sony showcased test footage of a kaiju-style battle between two massive mecha to the CinemaCon audience. According to reports from The Playlist, the footage looked "fun and slicker than, say, the Pacific Rim universe."
A high-stakes mecha market
Production on Grandgear has not yet begun, with reports suggesting filming may not start until next year. No casting announcements have been made for the feature.
Yamazaki enters Hollywood following the massive success of Godzilla Minus One, which earned $113 million globally on a $15 million budget. The film also secured an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 2024 Oscars.
Before focusing on Grandgear, Yamazaki is slated to release the sequel Godzilla Minus Zero on November 6 this year. His background as a visual effects supervisor is expected to bring a sense of scale and naturalism to the new project.
Grandgear enters a crowded market for giant-robot cinema. Netflix and Legendary are preparing to film a live-action Gundam movie directed by Jim Mickle and starring Sydney Sweeney.
Amazon MGM is also developing a Voltron film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. That project, starring Henry Cavill, has already wrapped production and targets a 2027 release.
