Hollywood’s been trying to get a movie for Mobile Suit Gundamoff the ground for a while, and Legendary Pictures is next in line to make it happen. After bagging Sydney Sweeney this past spring for a lead role, the film’s found another star in Noah Centineo.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, the Black Adam and future Street Fighter actor is “in talks” to join the project. Legendary is reportedly keeping mum on the potential casting for “sensitivity” reasons, and prior to Centineo, attempted to lock in Queer star Drew Starkey for this role. Sweeney’s said to be “very much involved” in choosing her co-lead, since they’re to be “on opposite sides of a war between planets who find a connection.”
Vague a description that may be, it might give an idea of what the Gundam movie may be about, namely that Sweeney and Centineo are playing characters from The08th MS Team. The original anime series for the franchise is set during the One Year War and focuses on Aina Sahalin, a pilot from the Principality of Zeon, and Shiro Amada, an ensign of the Earth Federation who cross paths during a mutual rescue in space. Like how this live-action film is described, Aina and Shiro are conflicted about their growing feelings for one another as the war between the Federation and Zeon escalates.
Alternatively, this movie could be a wholly original story; Legendary’s been mum on the Gundam movie’s plot, save that it’s written and directed by Sweeth Tooth creator Jim Mickle. We’ll find out and cover more about it as news emerges.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Recruit alum Noah Centineo is in talks to board Legendary‘s live-action adaptation of Gundam, the sprawling Japanese military sci-fi franchise, opposite Sydney Sweeney.
As Deadline previously reported in late 2024, Sweet Tooth showrunner Jim Mickle is set to direct the new Gundam, co-developed between Legendary and franchise owner Bandai Namco Filmworks, from his own script. Mickle will also produce with his partner Linda Moran through their production company Nightshade.
Earlier this year, it was announced Christy star Sweeney was in final negotiations to board the project. The plot is currently under wraps, but the film — which will mark the first live-action entry into the world — is looking to start production in early 2025.
One of the most revered animé, Gundam pioneered the sci-fi subgenre known as mecha, IP that centers on giant fighting robots. Gundam is set in the Universal Century, a future where humanity has colonized space. When a rebellion erupts between Earth and its colonies, the ensuing conflict is fought by pilots in massive mechanized contraptions known as mobile suits. The long-running multimedia franchise first launched with series Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979. Since then, the internationally renowned Yoshiyuki Tomino-created endeavor has spanned 83 animated series and movies, in addition to a lucrative merchandising arm that generates $600 million annually.
Legendary Entertainment initially announced its development of a Gundam film with Netflix in the spring of 2021, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts attached to direct the pic following his work with the studio on its hit Monterverse installment Kong: Skull Island. However, the streamer and Vogt-Roberts are no longer involved.
Following his breakout in Netflix’s beloved film adaptation of Jenny Han’s trilogy romance series, Centineo has also appeared in Black Adam, Warfare, The Perfect Date and The Fosters. Having just wrapped production on another Legendary movie, 2026’s Street Fighter, he will also soon appear in a Rambo prequel from Lionsgate and Gabriel Basso’s directorial debut Iconoclast.
“Everyone thought I was crazy,” said Stallone on The Playlist‘s Bingeworthy podcast. “AI is sophisticated enough to go through Saigon to see him at 18 years old and basically use the same image. So it isn’t as big a stretch.”
Amid Centineo’s potential casting in Millennium Media’s package for John Rambo, directed by Jalmari Helander from a script by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, Deadline reported that Stallone was aware but not involved.
Stallone cautioned anyone taking on the role during his podcast appearance. “It’s very, very hard. He may do a stellar job, but you’re overcoming this because I went through it with Get Carter. Everyone loves the original, and then you’re always fighting that prejudice,” he explained.
Sylvester Stallone attends the ‘Tulsa King’ Season 3 premiere on Sept. 16, 2025 in New York City.
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety
The prequel’s plot is under wraps, but it will explore the origin story of a young John Rambo during the Vietnam War. Created by David Morell in his novel First Blood (1972), Stallone play the veteran Green Beret in five movies, generating more than $800 million worldwide; the most recent, 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood, produced by Millennium and Sly’s Balboa, made $92M at the box office.
Sources tell Deadline the plan is to shoot the Rambo prequel at the top of 2026 in Thailand. Releasing the last two pics in the franchise, Lionsgate is the front-runner to land the package.
The new Street Fighter movie has been given a of October 16, 2026. Kitao Sakurai is directing the project and a few generic plot details have been disclosed. The story will be set in 1993, a nod to the year Street Fighter II was released in arcades, and will have familiar characters from the game uncovering “a deadly conspiracy” in the midst of all their street fighting.
It seems safe to expect a fair bit of camp in a Street Fighter project, and that bears out in some of the casting. Andrew Koji will play Ryu; he’s had several past action roles such as Bullet Train and TV series Warrior, so that feels like a solid choice. Noah Centineo is taking a break from his work in Netflix rom-coms (notably To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and its sequels) to play Ken. Newcomer Callina Liang, who only has a few credits to date, will play Chun-li. David Dastmalchian will be filling the great Raul Julia’s shoes (and oversized hat) as M. Bison.
Then things really get wacky. Curtis Jackson (who you know as rapper 50 Cent) is playing Balrog and country artist Orville Peck is Vega. Jason Momoa has been cast as Blanka, while WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes has even been chosen to play Guile. This could be absolute gold or absolute trash or possibly both at the same time.
Your favorite celebrity has it all: beauty, talent … and brains? In most cases, just like in real life, two out of three will have to do. But some celebs just need you to know there’s something going on up there in those pretty little heads. Performative intellectuality — we all do it. Celebrities just do it more obnoxiously.
A person’s “favorite” book can reveal far more about them than they ever will. And as we stare at our screens — hoarding all the info that Deuxmoi provides about the stars we stan — a simple book rec feels like we’ve hit a gold mine. For example, if anyone recommends Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, it’s time to log off. Same with Infinite Jest.
I’m begging him to stopvia Instagram @ncentineo
During quarantine, we were bombarded with book recs. With nothing to do but wallow about their mansions while we plebes reckoned with the looming financial crisis buoyed only by skimpy stimulus checks, superstars were lounging poolside. But they were hardly wasting away. They were reading.
Scrolling through Instagram stories, there was a constant flash of popular titles across my phone screen. And for a brief moment in June 2020, I couldn’t escape posts focused bell hook’s All About Love or Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility. Great picks, don’t get me wrong. But the spines looked suspiciously uncracked to me … and that’s all I’ll say about that.
I get it, though! It’s tough to carve out time for reading. And when you do, how can you tell what’s worth reading. In the age of BookTok, so many vile books blow up. Who can blame someone for falling victim to a bad rec? Or for proudly proclaiming their love of a vacuous bestseller, imagining that they appear unique. Cringe.
As someone who has used a few cliched books to embellish my personality in the past, I refuse to throw the first stone. But if I want to know what to read next, I know where not to turn — Noah Centineo, I’m looking at you.
Yet, beyond the performative intellect, there is hope. Some of our faves really are as introspective and complex as our fantasies make them out to be. They read books — good ones! They appreciate poems — good ones! And they have impeccable taste.
Here are some celebs with great taste and books you must — simply must — add to your TBR:
Noname
Rapper and activist Noname is one of the most avid readers in the music industry. She started Noname Book Club, an online/irl community dedicated to uplifting POC voices by highlighting two books each month written by authors of color. In addition to building community with folks across the country, they also send monthly book picks to incarcerated comrades through their Prison Program.
Some of the bookclub’s past picks include:
Reese Witherspoon
Yes, I said Reese Witherspoon. Her bookclub picks lead to instant popularity — some of which have been adapted by her production company, Hello Sunshine.
The People’s Princess has already recommended 50+ books, including:
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Thompson’s latest project — Viva Maude — is another actress-led production company. When she’s not playing a Marvel Superhero, she’s turning the pages. Luckily for us, her passion for diverse stories will soon mean fantastic movies for us all to enjoy.
Some of Tessa’s reads:
Kaia Gerber
Another celeb with a bookclub is Kaia Gerber — actress, model, and one of my personal favorite nepo babies. Her Instagram-based bookclub flourished during the pandemic, because she invited authors to her Instagram Live show and chat with her millions of followers.
Some of her top picks include:
Emily Ratajkowski
The model turned authoress Emily Ratajkowski recently penned her very own book of essays. All to compliment her own vast reading list — and she has some brilliant picks.
As an activist and writer, she has a diverse range of titles under her belt including:
Harry Styles
Yes, Harry Styles reads too! Harry’s the epitome of the modern man. “A man written by women” — as the internet named his rare breed. So, of course there’s gonna be some strong book recs here. A newbie reading convert, Harry freely confesses that many were recommended to him by the women in his life. Ladies, thank you for your service. His catchy pop hit “Watermelon Sugar” was inspired by Richard Brautigan’s In Watermelon Sugar.
Here are some of his others:
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There’s a moment in the new Netflix series “ The Recruit,” starring Noah Centineo, when his character, Owen, finds himself in the middle of a shootout.
As he ducks from a hail of bullets, Owen recognizes one of the people working for the other side as a woman he met in a bar. He momentarily forgets about the life-threatening situation at hand and gives a small wave of acknowledgement to her. The woman responds by shooting at him. How rude!
It’s moments like these that make “The Recruit” an atypical CIA drama. Yes, Centineo’s Owen is a CIA employee who finds himself in the field à la Jack Ryan, but instead of immediately knowing what to do and how to defend himself, this CIA employee is an attorney who is immediately in over his head.
“That’s a differentiation between our show, ‘The Recruit’ and many other spy genre shows and films,” said Centineo. “Usually, the lead is an accomplished spy, you know, someone that is very experienced and very good at what they do.” Owen, he says, is “fresh out of law school.”
“The Recruit” is created by Alexi Hawley, the showrunner behind high stakes, fish-out-of-water network TV shows “Castle” and “The Rookie,” both starring Nathan Fillion.
“I have said from the beginning that the second he gets good at his job, I’m not interested,” said Hawley of Owen.
Far from doltish, Owen is a confident lawyer, quick on his feet, and probably could be an accomplished spy, if that’s what he was trained to do. The series begins on his first day on the job at the CIA where he’s tasked with grunt work but discovers a credible blackmail threat against the agency by a former asset (played by Laura Haddock). His boss tells him to investigate, and Owen’s baptism by fire begins.
“I love that Owen’s constantly trying to take all the information that’s being thrown at him and wield it as a weapon to keep himself alive, because if he wasn’t as smart as he is, he would have been dead,” said Centineo.
The role is a fitting one for the actor, who is best-known as the loveable jock Peter Kavinsky in the “To All the Boys” YA film franchise starring Lana Condor. He most recently was seen in “Black Adam,″ starring Dwayne Johnson. Centineo excels at loveable, and while Owen is also charming, he’s also more nuanced.
“It was centered around a 24-year-old guy, and how many of those kinds of actors are out there who mean something? And (Noah) is one of them,” Hawley said. “So, of course, you’re like, ‘We’re never going to get him. How are we going to get him? Like, he’s so busy.’ And, you know, ultimately he really responded to the script, and he dove in all the way. … I knew he was great, but he was better than I ever could have imagined.”
Centineo also signed on as an executive producer, giving him an education that he describes as a “masterclass.”
“Actors are shielded from a lot of the minutiae, a lot of the problem-solving necessary, a lot of the behind-the-scenes escapades and mechanisms that occur to ensure that a project is filmed, edited and put forth. And for me, I wanted to be subsumed with it,″ Centineo said. “I wanted to know everything. I wanted to learn everything. I wanted to kind of soak in as much as I possibly could.”
The eight-episode first season of “The Recruit” is now streaming on Netflix. And Centineo has already begun thinking about Owen’s future challenges.
“I think I want to see him continue to get more and more comfortable, while also increasing the stakes and making the pond deeper and deeper because I think that’s what this world can be like. Right behind one door lies another and ad nauseum. That’s terrifying.”
By ALICIA RANCILIO, The Associated Press. Published:
There’s a moment in the new Netflix series “The Recruit,” starring Noah Centineo, when his character, Owen, finds himself in the middle of a shootout.
As he ducks from a hail of bullets, Owen recognizes one of the people working for the other side as a woman he met in a bar. He momentarily forgets about the life-threatening situation at hand and gives a small wave of acknowledgement to her. The woman responds by shooting at him. How rude!
It’s moments like these that make “The Recruit” an atypical CIA drama. Yes, Centineo’s Owen is a CIA employee who finds himself in the field à la Jack Ryan, but instead of immediately knowing what to do and how to defend himself, this CIA employee is an attorney who is immediately in over his head.
Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks in episode 105 of “The Recruit”
— Photo: Philippe Bossé/Netflix
“That’s a differentiation between our show, ‘The Recruit’ and many other spy genre shows and films,” said Centineo. “Usually, the lead is an accomplished spy, you know, someone that is very experienced and very good at what they do.” Owen, he says, is “fresh out of law school.”
“The Recruit” is created by Alexi Hawley, the showrunner behind high stakes, fish-out-of-water network TV shows “Castle” and “The Rookie”, both starring Nathan Fillion.
“I have said from the beginning that the second he gets good at his job, I’m not interested,” said Hawley of Owen.
Far from doltish, Owen is a confident lawyer, quick on his feet, and probably could be an accomplished spy, if that’s what he was trained to do. The series begins on his first day on the job at the CIA where he’s tasked with grunt work but discovers a credible blackmail threat against the agency by a former asset (played by Laura Haddock). His boss tells him to investigate, and Owen’s baptism by fire begins.
“I love that Owen’s constantly trying to take all the information that’s being thrown at him and wield it as a weapon to keep himself alive, because if he wasn’t as smart as he is, he would have been dead,” said Centineo.
The role is a fitting one for the actor, who is best-known as the loveable jock Peter Kavinsky in the “To All the Boys” YA film franchise starring Lana Condor. He most recently was seen in “Black Adam”, starring Dwayne Johnson. Centineo excels at loveable, and while Owen is also charming, he’s also more nuanced.
Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks in episode 101 of “The Recruit”
— Photo: Courtesy of Netflix
“It was centered around a 24-year-old guy, and how many of those kinds of actors are out there who mean something? And (Noah) is one of them,” Hawley said. “So, of course, you’re like, ‘We’re never going to get him. How are we going to get him? Like, he’s so busy.’ And, you know, ultimately he really responded to the script, and he dove in all the way. … I knew he was great, but he was better than I ever could have imagined.”
Centineo also signed on as an executive producer, giving him an education that he describes as a “masterclass.”
“Actors are shielded from a lot of the minutiae, a lot of the problem-solving necessary, a lot of the behind-the-scenes escapades and mechanisms that occur to ensure that a project is filmed, edited and put forth. And for me, I wanted to be subsumed with it,″ Centineo said. “I wanted to know everything. I wanted to learn everything. I wanted to kind of soak in as much as I possibly could.”
The eight-episode first season of “The Recruit” is now streaming on Netflix. And Centineo has already begun thinking about Owen’s future challenges.
“I think I want to see him continue to get more and more comfortable, while also increasing the stakes and making the pond deeper and deeper because I think that’s what this world can be like. Right behind one door lies another and ad nauseum. That’s terrifying.”
Not long into “Black Adam,” a preteen boy looks up at the muscled hulk of Dwayne Johnson and begs for his help: “We could use a superhero right now.” Speak for yourself, kid.
Do we need another superhero with another convoluted origin story that stretches back thousands of years and fulfills a whacko destiny? Do we really need another clutch of secondary level heroes to muddy focus? We’re almost 40 deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a dozen in the DC universe. You can almost smell the fumes now, can’t you?
“Black Adam” isn’t bad, it’s just predictable and color-by-numbers, stealing from other films like an intellectual property super-villain. But Johnson is a natural in the title role, mixing might with humor and able to deliver those necessary wooden lines. Why he hasn’t had a starring role in a DC or Marvel superhero flick until now is astonishing — c’mon, he’s built himself into a freaking superhero in street clothes already.
Like Marvel’s “Eternals,” “Black Adam” gets out of the blocks very sluggishly with the tangled tale of our setting — Kahndaq, a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom in 2,600 B.C. that has wizards, a blood-thirsty king, a magical crown and Eternium, a rare metallic ore with energy-manipulating properties (Hello, Vibranium from “Black Panther”).
Flash-forward to present day, where Kahndaq is under the cruel rule of the organized crime syndicate Intergang and its citizens are ripe to rebel. They think they may have a leader in Black Adam (here Teth Adam, when he is introduced), who is released from his 5,000-year-long tomb and is naturally cranky. Is he a force for good or bad? (Or for a new sub-franchise?) The answer is yes to all.
Yet the other superheroes in the DC pantheon aren’t sure about the new guy and send what can only be described as the Plan B of muscle from leftover members of a knock-off organization called the Justice Society of America.
There’s Doctor Fate (a dollar-store Doctor Strange played by Pierce Brosnan, who somehow keeps his dignity), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo, nicely playing a dweeby and always hungry giant), Aldis Hodge as a one-note Hawkman and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, who can control — checks notes — the wind. They apparently left at home the superhero with the ability to open jars.
Black Adam is more than a match for all of them combined. He can fly, move as fast as The Flash, catch rockets, deflect bullets and harness his own bluish electricity. Mostly he does this weirdly passive thing of just floating. “I kneel before no one” he intones, which might explain it.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra and the design team do a great job in every department but are let down by a derivative and baggy screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani that goes from one violent scene to another like a video game in order to paper over a plot both undercooked and overcooked. At one point, with the audience exhausted by all the carnage, they introduce skeletons who rise up as a legion from hell, just what we wanted.
They nicely include pockets of humor that DC has not always done well — a recurring bit with “Baby Come Back” and teaching Black Adam satire are fun; a Clint Eastwood gag fails — and there may have been three natural endings piling up before the final, manipulative one. (“This can only end one way,” says the script. Don’t believe it.)
Amidst the punching superheroes are two humans — a rebel leader and her skateboard-and-comics-loving pre-teen son, played superbly by Sarah Shahi and Bodhi Sabongui, respectively. Comedian Mohammed Amer is a much-needed bolt of bright humor.
Most intriguing — and the angle most fruitful to lean into — is the notion of hero itself. The Justice Society members are shocked to find that they aren’t seen as heroic to the residents of Kahndaq, living 27 years under oppression. Black Adam has come to help, even if he’s a little more violent. Residents wonder where were the guys with all the superpowers for almost three decades while they suffered — a nice dig at Western nations.
“There are only heroes and villains. Heroes don’t kill people,” a confused Hawkman states. Black Adam replies: “Well, I do.” It is Shahiby’s character who notes that it’s easy to call someone a hero when you’re the one drawing the line.
The number of — ahem — call-backs to other films is pretty sad — “Tomb Raider,” “Back to the Future” and plenty of “Star Wars” (even, unforgivably, the line “You’re our only hope”.) It’s a film that is sometimes self-aware, as when the kid urges Black Adam to come up with a catchphrase that will sell lunchboxes.
He does, but it makes little sense: “Tell them, ‘The man in black sent you.’” Wait, he was sent by someone else? Do they mean Johnny Cash? Actually that may be a clue. What the filmmakers probably had in mind was cash — selling those lunchboxes.
“Black Adam,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release that hits cinemas on Friday, is rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language. Running time: 124 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
