Sunrise announced during a special edition anniversary screening of the animated film Mobile Suit GTA Seed FREEDOM on Friday, a new prequel project titled Mobile Suit GTA Seed FREEDOM ZERO, or SEED FREEDOM ZERO for short. .
Image provided by Sunrise
© Sunrise
Director Mitsuo Fukuda, producer Hisakazu Naka and Sōichirō Hoshi, who voices Kira Yamato, were on stage to welcome the anniversary screening performance. They revealed that screenwriters Chiaki Morosawa and Shigeru Morita wrote the script while planning Gun Seed Freedom. In addition, Fukuda also said that the script of SEED FREEDOM ZERO was completed 20 years ago. The storyboards were almost half done and the oldest storyboards actually predated the Gun Seed Freedom storyboards. He added that 20 years ago, SEED FREEDOM ZERO was originally planned as an original video anime (OVA), but the production team has not yet decided how it will be presented now.
Image via Mobile Suit Gun Seeds FREEDOM movie website
© 創通・サンライズ
Special editions of the movie Mobile SuitGundam Seed FREEDOM are being shown in theaters with two limited screenings in 14 days. A special edition of the film, with an additional ending (or cuts) was shown from September 20 to October 3. Another special edition, with an additional ending (or cuts) , will run from November 1 to 14.
Director Fukuda explained that due to time, the staff could not complete every part to their liking in the version released in theaters on January 26. For the special editions, they updated the cuts and Refine parts that don't feel right after screening. Fukuda added, “I think we can call this the complete version of Seed FREEDOM.”
Mobile Suit Gun Seed FREEDOM opened in Japan on January 26. The film debuted at No. 1 at the Japanese box office. The film sold 634,182 tickets for 1,065,983,130 yen (about US$7.20 million) in its first three days of release, marking the highest opening three-day box office revenue of an anime series. The film is the highest-earning Gundunda film ever in Japan.
Bandai Namco Filmworks and Fathom Events screened the film in the United States and Canada on May 7–8, with subtitles on May 7 and with an English dub on May 8.
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Fukuda directed the film at Bandai Namco Filmworks. Fukuda also co-wrote the script with his late wife Chiaki Morosawa and Liu Goto. Hisashi Hirai (Mobile Suit GTA Seed) designed the characters.
Source: Press release, Gundam Seed Freedom anime's X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie (link 2)
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a minority, non-controlling shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
