Sydney Sweeney has spent the last few years turning modest projects into hits, and her next one is the biggest swing of her career. The Euphoria star leads Gundam, Netflix’s live-action take on the giant-robot franchise that began with the 1979 anime Mobile Suit Gundam. Jim Mickle, the creator of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth, wrote and directed the film, which wrapped production in Australia in July.
Netflix hasn’t set a release date, and the current plan points to a streaming debut. That plan looks increasingly out of step with Netflix’s recent theatrical moves. Between Sweeney’s box-office pull and the sheer size of the project, Gundam has every reason to follow Greta Gerwig’s Narnia into theaters.
Sydney Sweeney Brings Real Box-Office Muscle
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Few stars can turn a movie into a box-office hit that climbs steadily, but Sweeney has done it twice since 2023. Anyone But You opened to $6 million domestically and kept climbing to $220 million worldwide. The Housemaid went even further. Paul Feig’s thriller grossed more than $400 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret, is already in production and slated for a December 2027 release.
Netflix, meanwhile, has started to lean into theatrical releases. The sing-along version of KPop Demon Hunters made $18 million in its first weekend in August 2025, landing at No. 1, according to Box Office Mojo. It was the streamer’s first box-office win, and Netflix has since agreed to report box-office numbers for six upcoming films.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is the biggest test of that shift. Gerwig’s fantasy movie will be released in IMAX and theaters worldwide on Feb. 12, 2027. It will play for seven weeks on the big screen before being released on Netflix on April 2, 2027. That’s a far longer run than the Thanksgiving IMAX release Netflix first planned. A sci-fi spectacle led by a star with Sweeney’s track record is the natural next step.
‘Gundam’ Was Made for the Biggest Screen Possible
Gundam is one of Netflix’s most ambitious sci-fi projects. The streamer picked up the rights in 2021, and after years of changing directors and writers, the movie was finally filmed from April to July 2026.
Netflix describes the movie as an original story about rival mech pilots fighting on opposite sides of a decades-long war between Earth and its former space colonies. Noah Centineo, who stars opposite Sweeney, called it “a big action-romance space movie” set in the franchise’s Universal Century timeline. The actor also described it as Romeo and Juliet set in space.
Mickle is passionate about Gundam, and in a video message for this year’s Gundam Conference, he promised iconic ships and Mobile Suits from the series, plus new additions. The Mobile Suits are giant war machines, and many of their biggest battles unfold in outer space. That kind of scale deserves a proper showcase.
Netflix’s live-action anime record is mixed. Critics struggled with the 2017 Death Note movie, and Cowboy Bebop lasted one season. One Piece proved it can work, and Gundam is promising since it has the original anime’s studio, Bandai Namco Filmworks, on board. Netflix’s Rebel Moon and The Electric State were built around new or lesser-known worlds. Gundam brings nearly 50 years of history and also a partner in Legendary, which has already turned Toho’s Godzilla into a five-film theatrical franchise with the MonsterVerse.
If Narnia pays off in February, Netflix will have its blueprint. A Gundam hit with Sweeney at the controls would give the streamer a theatrical franchise of its own and make Netflix as synonymous with movie theaters as it is with streaming.
