Remember when Noah Centineo was just the cute guy writing love letters in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before? The charming boy next door making teenage girls swoon across Netflix? The rom-com king whose biggest action scene involved maybe running to catch a flight?
Yeah, that guy is now piloting giant robots and fighting intergalactic wars.
In the space of 24 months, Noah Centineo has transformed from rom-com heartthrob to action franchise goldmine. He’s currently filming Street Fighter for Legendary. He’s prepping a Rambo prequel for next year. And this week, news dropped that he’s in final talks to join Sydney Sweeney in Legendary’s massive live-action Gundam adaptation.
That’s three major action franchises. Simultaneously. For the same studio. While most actors his age are still trying to land their first blockbuster, Noah’s collecting them like Infinity Stones.
And here’s the wildest part: he’s doing it opposite Sydney Sweeney, who’s on her own trajectory from Euphoria breakout to producing and starring in box office hits like Anyone But You. Two actors who defined streaming content for Gen Z are now about to define theatrical blockbusters for the same generation.
The Gundam news specifically is massive. The iconic Japanese mecha anime franchise has been in development hell for years. Legendary finally cracked it by casting Sweeney earlier this year. Now with Centineo in talks as the male lead, they’ve got a Romeo and Juliet style war epic that could launch an entire cinematic universe.
Share this with every person who still thinks Noah Centineo is just a rom-com actor because his career pivot is the most unexpected glow up of 2025.
From Drew Starkey To Noah Centineo: The Casting Shift That Changed Everything
Let’s talk about how this deal almost didn’t happen. Originally, Legendary was in serious talks with Drew Starkey for the Gundam male lead. Starkey, best known as Rafe Cameron on Netflix’s Outer Banks, seemed like the perfect fit. Young, charismatic, action ready. Negotiations progressed. Trade publications reported it as nearly done.
Then talks fell apart. Details remain private but industry insiders suggest scheduling conflicts and creative differences contributed. Starkey walked. Legendary needed a new male lead fast because production is scheduled to start early 2025.
Enter Noah Centineo. Already shooting Street Fighter for the studio. Already proving he can handle action choreography and franchise pressure. Already building a relationship with Legendary executives who clearly see him as their next action franchise anchor.
The pivot from Starkey to Centineo actually makes more sense than initial casting. Starkey’s Outer Banks character leans villain adjacent. Centineo’s established persona is earnest hero. For a Gundam adaptation exploring themes of loyalty, tragedy, and star crossed romance during war, earnest hero energy fits better than dark antihero vibes.
Plus, and this matters commercially, Centineo brings an existing fanbase that spans demographics. To All The Boys fans will follow him to mecha robots. The Recruit viewers already know he can do action thriller. His social media reach eclipses most actors his age. He’s not just a talented performer. He’s a marketing asset.
Sydney Sweeney’s involvement in the casting process sealed it. According to multiple reports, she’s not just starring in Gundam. She’s actively participating in choosing co-stars. Her production company is involved. When an actress with her current box office heat and industry clout says “I want Noah,” studios listen.
The chemistry matters because Gundam isn’t just giant robot battles. It’s fundamentally a human story about people on opposite sides of war finding connection despite everything trying to keep them apart. Noah and Sydney need to sell that emotional core or the mecha spectacle becomes hollow.
Don’t miss what Gundam actually is and why this adaptation could be bigger than anyone expects.
What The Hell Is Gundam And Why Should You Care
For anyone not immersed in anime culture, Gundam requires explanation. The franchise started in 1979 with Mobile Suit Gundam, a Japanese animated series that revolutionized the mecha genre by grounding giant robot warfare in political and philosophical complexity.
Unlike previous robot anime where machines were fantastical heroes, Gundam presented them as military weapons. Tools of war used by flawed humans for questionable causes. The original series explored colonialism, war profiteering, and whether any side in armed conflict can claim moral superiority.
Over 45 years, Gundam has spawned dozens of series, movies, video games, and model kits generating billions in revenue. It’s one of Japan’s most valuable intellectual properties. And crucially for Hollywood, it has massive global recognition while remaining largely untapped for Western live-action adaptation.
The specific story Legendary is adapting appears to be Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, a 1996 OVA (original video animation) series set during the One Year War. The plot follows a squad of Earth Federation soldiers battling Zeon forces in Southeast Asian jungles. At its heart is a romance between Federation officer Shiro Amada and Zeon pilot Aina Sahalin.
It’s Romeo and Juliet meets Apocalypse Now with giant robots. Two people from opposite sides falling in love while their nations destroy each other. The tragedy isn’t just will they survive the war. It’s how do you reconcile loving someone your government tells you is the enemy?
That moral complexity is why Gundam endures. It doesn’t present war as glorious adventure or simple good versus evil. It shows war as human tragedy where both sides believe they’re right and everyone pays the cost.
Sydney Sweeney’s character reportedly seeks vengeance for her father’s death. Noah Centineo’s character is her rival and eventually love interest from the opposing faction. Their relationship develops against a backdrop of planetary conflict neither can stop but both are trapped within.
For a generation raised on Marvel’s black and white morality, Gundam’s moral ambiguity will feel fresh. For audiences tired of CGI spectacle without emotional stakes, the central romance provides human connection. And for studios desperate for new franchises after Star Wars faltered and Marvel fatigued audiences, Gundam offers decades of mythology to mine.
This isn’t a risky experimental anime adaptation. This is Legendary betting hundreds of millions that Gundam can be their next Dune. A beloved property with built in fanbase that attracts mainstream audiences through spectacle and emotional storytelling.
Noah’s Triple Action Franchise Takeover
Here’s where Noah Centineo’s career gets genuinely wild. He’s not just doing Gundam. He’s filming three major action franchises nearly back to back.
Street Fighter shoots first. The iconic video game adaptation distributed by Paramount releases October 16, 2026. Noah plays a lead role in the ensemble cast bringing Capcom’s fighting game to live action for the first time since the 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme disaster. That film has cult status for being so bad it’s good. This version aims for actual good.
Next comes a Rambo prequel scheduled to film in early 2024. Yes, Rambo. The Sylvester Stallone franchise about the traumatized Vietnam vet turned one man army. Noah will presumably play a younger version exploring John Rambo’s origin or the war experiences that shaped him. It’s a dramatic pivot from his usual work but shows studios trust him with legacy IP.
Then Gundam begins production after Street Fighter wraps. Jim Mickle directs from his own screenplay. Legendary and Bandai Namco Filmworks co-produce. Sydney Sweeney anchors. And Noah steps into what could become a multi-film franchise if the first succeeds.
Three action franchises. Three different studios/distributors. Three wildly different tones and audiences. It’s an aggressive play that positions Noah as the go-to young action lead for major intellectual property adaptations.
Compare this to his peers. Timothée Chalamet has Dune but focuses primarily on prestige drama. Tom Holland has Spider-Man but struggles to break free from that association. Austin Butler had Elvis success but hasn’t locked down a franchise yet. Noah’s simultaneously building action credibility across multiple properties.
The risk is overexposure. Three action films releasing within potentially 18 months could make audiences feel they’re seeing too much Noah too fast. But the counter argument is these are different enough properties targeting different demographics that crossover fatigue won’t materialize.
Street Fighter targets gamers and martial arts fans. Rambo goes for older audiences nostalgic for 80s action. Gundam aims at anime enthusiasts and sci-fi lovers. Yes, Noah’s in all three. But each offers distinct experiences that don’t compete with each other.
Share this breakdown with your film industry friend because Noah’s career strategy is actually brilliant if it works.
Sydney Sweeney’s Producer Power Play
Let’s talk about Sydney’s role in this because it’s arguably more important than Noah’s casting. She’s not just the female lead. She’s producing through her company. She’s involved in casting decisions. She’s shaping the project’s creative direction.
That level of control is rare for actors under 30. Sydney leveraged her Anyone But You success, which grossed over $200 million globally, into genuine producer power. Studios now view her as someone who can greenlight projects, not just star in them.
Her involvement in choosing Noah as co-star signals she understands chemistry matters more than star power. She could’ve pushed for a bigger name. Someone with more action credibility or awards recognition. Instead, she reportedly wanted Noah specifically.
Why? Probably because they’re similar career trajectories. Both started in streaming content. Both built massive young adult fanbases. Both are transitioning to theatrical blockbusters. They speak the same generational language and understand how to connect with audiences studios desperately want to reach.
Sydney’s also smart enough to know Gundam requires emotional authenticity. Giant robot battles will bring people to theaters. But the romance between characters from opposite sides keeps them engaged. If audiences don’t care whether her character and Noah’s character survive, the spectacle becomes empty.
By choosing a co-star she believes can deliver that emotional connection rather than just action star posturing, Sydney’s protecting the film’s core appeal. It’s a producer thinking long-term about franchise potential rather than an actress just worried about her own role.
Jim Mickle’s Vision For Grounded Mecha Action
Director Jim Mickle brings interesting credentials. He’s not primarily known for action or sci-fi. His biggest success is Netflix’s Sweet Tooth, the post-apocalyptic series about a boy with deer antlers. That show balanced whimsy with genuine darkness, creating something tonally unique in the streaming landscape.
For Gundam, that tonal balance matters enormously. The anime works because it’s simultaneously spectacular and intimate. Giant robots destroy cities while humans grapple with loyalty, love, and survival. Mickle needs to maintain both scales without letting one overwhelm the other.
His Sweet Tooth experience proves he can direct actors through emotional material while managing heavy VFX requirements. That series was effects intensive but never felt like spectacle for spectacle’s sake. The human stories always centered the narrative.
Mickle also wrote the Gundam screenplay, giving him complete creative control over adaptation choices. He’s not a director-for-hire executing someone else’s vision. He’s the author bringing his interpretation to screen. That unified vision increases the chance of cohesive storytelling.
Early reports suggest he’s adapting The 08th MS Team because it’s the most grounded Gundam story. The stakes are localized. The characters are soldiers, not super pilots or political leaders. It’s war from ground level rather than grand strategic overview. That human scale approach fits Mickle’s strengths.
If Gundam works, Mickle positions himself as Hollywood’s go-to director for prestige anime adaptations. If it fails, he returns to streaming where his track record remains strong. It’s high risk, high reward filmmaking that requires trusting your vision over conventional wisdom.
What This Means For Anime Hollywood Adaptations
Gundam joins a growing list of high budget anime adaptations Hollywood is betting on. Netflix’s One Piece shocked everyone by being genuinely good. Attack on Titan remains in development. Multiple Dragon Ball projects cycle through production hell.
But Gundam is different. It’s not targeting streaming. It’s a theatrical tentpole designed to launch a franchise. Legendary is spending blockbuster money betting Western audiences will embrace giant robot warfare with Japanese cultural DNA.
The casting of Noah and Sydney signals the strategy: anchor anime adaptations with young stars who have built-in fanbases. Don’t cast unknowns and hope for breakouts. Don’t cast older established stars and hope they bring credibility. Cast people in their 20s who already connect with the demographic most likely to see anime adaptations.
If Gundam succeeds, expect every studio to greenlight their mecha property. If it fails, Hollywood might retreat from big budget anime adaptations for another decade. The stakes extend beyond this single film.
Drop a comment: Are you excited for Noah and Sydney in Gundam? Will giant robot movies work in Hollywood? Share this with your anime obsessed friend because this casting is going to make or break an entire genre.
Follow for updates as production begins. Because when two of Gen Z’s biggest stars pilot mecha suits in a Romeo and Juliet war epic, that’s not just a movie. That’s a cultural moment waiting to explode across every screen that matters.
When Noah Centineo signs his Gundam contract, he completes a transformation from Netflix rom-com star to action franchise king that nobody saw coming five years ago. When Sydney Sweeney co-stars while producing, she cements herself as Hollywood’s smartest young actress-turned-mogul. And when they pilot giant robots while falling in love during intergalactic war, they’ll either create the anime adaptation that changes everything or the cautionary tale that proves some properties can’t make the leap. Either way, it’s going to be spectacular watching them try.
